10 classics to celebrate International Women’s Day 

Classic_Womens_Day_18_Snippet-788x306px_v1.jpg

Reading lists

10 classics to celebrate International Women’s Day

The Pillow Book

New translation of a book that has sold over 100,000 in its previous version

'A mistress of wry observation and scalding wit ... The Pillow Book retains its fresh, authentic appeal more than 1,000 years after its inception' Japan Times 
 
Written by the court gentlewoman Sei Shonagon as a journal for her own amusement, The Pillow Book is one of the greatest works of Japanese literature. A fascinating exploration of life amongst the nobility at the height of the idyllic Heian period, it describes the exquisite pleasures of a confined world in which poetry, love, fashion and whim dominated. From brief reflections to longer, lyrical tales, Shonagon moves elegantly across themes including nature, society and her own flirtations and frustrations, to provide a witty, unique insight into a woman's life at court in classical Japan. 
 
Translated with an introduction by Meredith McKinney

Meredith McKinney is a translator of Japanese literature, both contemporary and classical. She lived in Japan for twenty years and currently lives in Braidwood, New South Wales. 
 
 
Meredith McKinney is a translator of Japanese literature, both contemporary and classical. She lived in Japan for twenty years and currently lives in Braidwood, New South Wales.

A new translation of the idiosyncratic diary of a C10 court lady in Heian Japan. Along with the TALE OF GENJI, this is one of the major Japanese Classics.

Sei Shonagon

All moonlight is moving, wherever it may be… 
 
Japanese gentlewoman Sei Shonagon invites us to look behind the painted screens in the Emperor’s palace and discover a lost world, in which games of poetry are the highest form of wit, lovers send each other elegant morning-after letters, and appreciation of the natural world – wild geese in autumn, the pure white frost of winter – is one of life’s most exquisite pleasures.

Sei Shonagon

Books by Sei Shonagon

Series by Sei Shonagon

Penguin Archive

Articles featuring Sei Shonagon

10 classics to celebrate International Women’s Day

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter