Anaïs Nin, Without Reservations

“Words and certain languages and certain rhythms belong to certain personalities -- the writing takes on the color of the certain personality that I describe.”

Frank Roberts of KPFK radio interviews Anaïs Nin, following the publication of the first volume of her eponymous diary in 1966. Despite it being the first book in the series to be published, she appears to have already recognized that these works would be her most celebrated.

Roberts relates Nin's rhythmic writing style to Surrealism. Nin accepts the comparison and explains how she views individuals as beings that occupy their own atmosphere and posses a correspondingly unique linguistic identity, which she endeavored to depict in her diaries. Citing the flow and tone of Balzac and Kerouac's writing as sources of influence, she also credits music and a bohemian lifestyle with inspiring her work.

Nin also defends herself against criticisms that she herself was locked within the diary, that it was keeping her back. On the contrary, she claims that it liberated her by exposing her to far more mature artists. To that end, she discusses her mentors and confidants, namely Arthur Miller, his wife June, Antonin Artaud, and Lawrence Durrell.

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