Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973-c. 1014 or 1025 CE) was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the imperial court during the Heian period. Her personal name is unknown; Murasaki Shikibu is a descriptive name assigned to her. She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, a long prose narrative following the life and romances of a fictional imperial son, generally considered one of the world's earliest novels and a landmark of Japanese literature. Written in the vernacular Japanese used by court women of the period rather than in the Chinese favored for formal writing, her work offers a detailed portrait of Heian court life and remains widely read and studied today.