12 May 2008
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
Written by a gentlewoman of the Heian court, ostensibly for her own amusement, The Pillow Book is one of the great works of Japanese literature. It describes life amongst the noblity during one of the idyllilc periods of classical Japan, evoking the exquisite pleasures of a confined world in which poetry, love, fashion and whim dominates. Shonagon moves across a wide range of themes, including nature, society, and her own flirtations and frustrations.
Sei Shonagon (c.966-1017) was part of the court of Empress Teishi in what is now Kyoto. Her journal of anecdotes and observations was probably completed in the early years of the eleventh century.
Author: Sei Shonagon
Reader: Alison Bell
Production
Abridged for radio by:
Meredith McKinney
Producer:
Justine Sloane-Lees
Publication
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Translated by Meredith McKinney
