In my early twenties, Anaïs Nin, a French-born self-styled American diarist, essayist, novelist, writer of short stories and erotica was an inspiring model as I struggled to create an identity as a young woman. A prolific writer of journals from eleven years old until her death in 1977, Nin shared her private thoughts and personal relationships, including two marriages and numerous affairs. Much of her writing, including a sampling of journals, was published after her death, when a renewed attention to Nin’s personal life and literary work drew attention to this self-styled feminist and captivating literary figure.
On the occasion of a request for poems to be included in a self-published collective anthology celebrating Straw Dog Writers Guild’s second “Dead Writers Dance” in the fall of 2019, I wrote the following poem. Not until I noted these emotional reflections of her influence on me did I realize why I felt such a strong kinship with Nin, as I searched to discover a personal identity during that tumultuous era of the 1970’s.
Ode to Anaïs Nin The big sister I always longed for, you gently linked your arm through mine, accompanied me through the turbulence of my reckless coming-of-age years. All the while, I devoured your diaries page by page seeking your guidance and wisdom of the soul, while scribbling in my own journal word by word desperate to mend my shattered heart with borrowed courage. How your longing for a Great Adventure matched my own! Following your steps, I reversed your cross-Atlantic journey and traveled from America to Spain; aching to escape… myself, a wretch on her own home turf. And when you confessed to the necessary pain of turning bud to blossom, I too mustered the strength to reach my arms skyward to the blazing sun and followed your flowering with my own.
Links to Stephanie’s recently published writing include:
Stephanie Shafran 