Sei Shōnagon
The diary was probably written between 1008 and 1010 when Murasaki was in service at the imperial court. The largest portion details the birth of Empress Shōshi's ("Akiko") children. Shorter vignettes describe interactions among imperial ladies-in-waiting and other court writers, such as Izumi Shikibu, Akazome Emon and Sei Shōnagon. Murasaki includes her observations and opinions throughout, bringing to the work a sense of life at the early 11th century Heian court, lacking in other literature or chronicles of the era.