Murasaki, Shikibu (c. 978-c. 1015)

Japanese writer. She was a lady at the court. Her masterpiece of fiction, The Tale of Genji (c. 1010), is one of the classic works of Japanese literature, and may be the world's first novel.

She was a member of the Fujiwara clan, but her own name is not known; scholars have given her the name Murasaki after a character in the book. It deals with upper-class life in Heian Japan, centring on the affairs of Prince Genji. A portion of her diary and a number of poems also survive.