Izumi Shikibu is a poetess from Heian Japan and her diary is probably my favorite nikki from the period! I had to make a video not just about her but also about the fantastic English translation of her work.
📚 Books Mentioned:
Internet Archive: archive.org (currently down 😭)
Ink Dark Moon: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ink-dark-moon-ono-no-komachi/1140329252
🌸 Sources:
English sources to learn about Izumi Shikibu are very limited, especially if you do not have access to academic journals. Much of what I know of her comes from Edward A. Cranston's The Diary of Izumi Shikibu but there are a few other sources I was able to find and read for free:
A paper by Silva Iaponicarum ( www.academia.edu/13813576/Reconsidering_Izumi_Shikibu?source=swp_share ) which focuses on how the view of Izumi Shikibu has been shaped by history and her 'legendarisation process.'
A paper by Roselee Bundy ( jll.pitt.edu/ojs/JLL/article/view/152/229 ) which delves into certain poems grieving Prince Atsumichi called the Gojusshu waka.
This waka poetry site has many translations of her poems: www.wakapoetry.net/poets/mid-heian-poets/izumi-shikibu/