Naomi Alderman wonders at lady-in-waiting, writer and all-round entertainer Sei Shōnagon, who wrote The Pillow Book over a thousand years ago in the Japanese imperial court.

The Empress and her entourage lived in a closed world, glimpsed through half-shut blinds, while political machinations went on all around them. Poetry and wit were highly prized; and Sei Shōnagon was unmatched. In dark times, she picked out the beauty and absurdity in everyday life; and pulled together poetry, anecdote, essays and lists to create a whole new genre in Japanese – miscellany.

Special thanks to Naomi Fukumori, Associate Professor and Director of The Institute for Japanese Studies at The Ohio State University.

Excerpts from The Pillow Book translated by Meredith McKinney (Penguin Classics 2006).

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.