Letters to Lawrence Durrell, 1937–1977
The champion's habit at its longest run — four decades with Durrell.
Read our take
Morale des Épicentres
by Anaïs Nin
A French curiosity of the shelf: Marcel Moreau's book, published with a group of Nin's letters to him — her contribution, not her volume.
- 2004
About Anaïs Nin
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeAn honest label first: this 2004 French volume is by the Belgian writer Marcel Moreau, and Nin's part is an appendix — a group of the letters she wrote him, published with his text. It earns its place on her shelf as the accessible trace of a real late friendship: Nin discovered Moreau's ferocious prose in the sixties, championed it, and corresponded with him until her death. We catalogue it as a contribution rather than a Nin book proper. (Letters and essays — nothing to spoil.)
The story, in more detail
Moreau belongs to the late chapter of Nin's lifelong habit: finding an intense, unclassifiable writer and taking up the cause. She encountered his work in the 1960s, corresponded with him across the decade of her fame, and wrote publicly in his support — one of several younger European writers who found in her a champion when the French establishment kept its distance. The letters published here are her side of that friendship, in French, warm and characteristically insistent on the writer's obligation to intensity.
The 2004 volume sets those letters after Moreau's own text, and the pairing is the point: the reader meets the prose she championed and then the championing itself. For Nin completists it is a genuine if minor entry — her letters in their original language, in a book that would not exist without the friendship — and we list it the way the bibliographies do, as a contribution to another writer's volume.
What's inside
Two parts: Marcel Moreau's French text, and, following it, a group of Anaïs Nin's letters to him from the years of their friendship — her encouragement, her readings of his work, and the late-life voice of her French correspondence. The volume is in French and has not been translated.
Themes and analysis
A reader who champions the work
In a published selection from Moreau's text, writing seems to move physically inward: he imagines a verbal body crouching among his entrails, then a work apprehended by smell as well as sight. These are not decorative metaphors added to a memoir after the fact. They make the act of finding words part of the body's life, and make reading a bodily encounter too. That gives substance to the intensity of the prose represented in the illustration. The scene of Nin reading it remains an imaginative response, not evidence that she sat in this particular place with this volume.
A voice preserved in letters
Another selected passage describes conversation as a possible shield: people can speak merely to confirm their existing fears and limits, when dialogue might instead venture into what they do not yet know. The volume places fifteen of Nin's letters after Moreau's prose, so the question of one writer addressing another is built into its form. But the available excerpts are Moreau's, not Nin's letters. They let us examine his demand of dialogue, not attribute a particular answer to her. The portfolio shown here is symbolic of that two-part book, not a reproduction of either writer's papers.
Why we recommend it
Nin in French
Her letters in their original language — a register the English volumes never show.
The champion's habit, late
The pattern that began with Miller and Durrell, still running in the last decade.
A shelf curiosity
The rarest kind of Nin item: one that exists inside someone else's book.
What this book explores
Timeline
1968
Moreau’s Morale des épicentres first appears, before the later edition containing Nin’s correspondence.
1971–1975
Nin writes the letters subsequently included alongside Moreau’s text.
2004
Denoël publishes the volume with Nin’s letters as a separate contribution.
Book editions
Paperback
- Paperback
- 2004
Reader reviews
Readers may also like
A Literate Passion
Where the pattern began: the first writer she championed, at full length.
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Morale des Épicentres: frequently asked questions
Is Morale des Épicentres a book by Anaïs Nin?
No — it is by the Belgian writer Marcel Moreau, published in 2004 with a group of Nin's letters to him as its second part. We list it as a contribution rather than a Nin volume.
Who is Marcel Moreau?
A Belgian-born French-language writer of intense, unclassifiable prose, whom Nin discovered in the 1960s and championed; the two corresponded until her death in 1977.
What is Nin's part of the book?
A group of her letters to Moreau from the years of their friendship — encouragement, readings of his work, and her late French voice.
Is it available in English?
No. The volume is in French and has not been translated.
Why include it on Nin's shelf at all?
It is the accessible published trace of a documented friendship, and completist bibliographies list it — clearly labeled, as here, for what it is.
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References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document Morale des Épicentres, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1Morale des Épicentres
NovelAnaïs Nin, 2004Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
2Marcel Moreau — Morale des épicentres (selected passages)
WebsiteCondiments pour un anagnoste, 2018Used forSelected passages of Moreau's text reproduced online; transcription has visible errors and was not collated with the 2004 Denoël printing. The appended Nin letters are not included and have not been read.
3Anaïs Nin — biography
WebsiteThe Anaïs Nin FoundationUsed forUsed to verify Morale des Épicentres's bibliographic context and its place within Anaïs Nin's published work.
4Anaïs Nin Papers — diary, March–September 1938
ArchiveUCLA Library Special CollectionsUsed forUsed for independent archival, institutional, or historical context surrounding Anaïs Nin and Morale des Épicentres.
5Anaïs Nin: A Biography
BiographyG. P. Putnam's Sons, 1995Used forUsed to cross-check chronology, publication history, and the circumstances in which Morale des Épicentres appeared.
6Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin
BiographyLittle, Brown, 1993Used forUsed for an additional scholarly or biographical perspective on Morale des Épicentres and Anaïs Nin's wider career.
7Bibliothèque municipale de Dijon — edition and correspondence dates
WebsiteUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Morale des Épicentres page.
8Université catholique de Louvain — interview with Marcel Moreau
WebsiteUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Morale des Épicentres page.
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Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
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