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Early Women Writers

Koshikibu no Naishi (The Koshikibu Handmaid)

Item

Author

Koshikibu no Naishi (The Koshikibu Handmaid)

Location

Heian-kyo (modern day Kyoto)

Dates

d. 1025

Biography

Koshikibu no Naishi is named after her mother, the famous poet Izumi Shikibu. Her name is a combination of her position at court -- handmaid, or naishi -- and a tribute to her mother, for the 'ko' in her name means 'little shikibu.' Koshikibu has four poems included in imperial anthologies, as well as a contribtion in the Hyakunin Isshu (One hundred poems by one hundred poets.) She died tragically in her late twenties. [Source: Mostow, Joshua S. Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image. Honolulu: Hawai'i UP, 1996.]

Languages

Japanese

Genres

Poetry

Editions and Translations

McMilan, Peter. One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. New York: Columbia UP, 2010; Mostow, Joshua S. Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image. Honolulu: Hawai'i UP, 1996. ; Brower, Robert H., and Earl Miner. Japanese Court Poetry. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1961.

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