In 1932, Cuban diarist Anaïs Nin and American novelist Henry Miller began an incredibly intense love affair that would last for many years. In the 1940s, at which point she, Miller, and a collective of other writers were earning $1 per page writing erotic fiction for the private consumption of an anonymous client known only as the “Collector,” Nin wrote a passionate letter to this mysterious figure and made known her frustrations—frustrations caused by his repeated insistence that they "leave out the poetry" and instead "concentrate on sex."

Gillian Anderson joined us to read this letter at the 10th anniversary show of Letters Live at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2023.

From The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 3. © The Anais Nin Trust