Early Women Writers

Shunzei's daughter

Heian-kyo (modern day Kyoto)

1171?-1252

The grand-daughter of poet Fujiwara Shunzei, Shunzei's daughter was one of the most accomplished poets of her age: she has one-hundred sixteen poems included in imperial collections and records of her success in poetry-writing contests are testament to her gift. She is also often identified as the most likely author of the Mumyōzōshi, the oldest extant text of Japanese literary criticism. [Source:Mulhern, Chieko Irie. Japanese Women Writers: a Bio-critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994.]

Poetry, Shunzeikyo no Musume-shu (Shunzei's Daughter's Collection), Mumyōzōshi

Japanese

Poetry

Brower, Robert H., and Earl Miner. Japanese Court Poetry. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1961. ; Carter, Steven D.,tr. Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1991. ; Marra, Michele, tr. Mumyozoshi. Monumenta Nipponica 39. 2-4 (1984).