In Preachers, Poets, Women, and the Way, Keller Kimbrough has produced a masterwork of research and dedication. Examining a variety of stories from Japans medieval period about famous Heian-period women poetsespecially Izumi Shikibuhe considers who told these takes, in what contexts, for what audiences, and to what purpose. Kimbrough reveals a complex web of preachers, prostitutes, and temple fundraisers who recited the poetry and embellished accounts of the lives of aristocratic Heian women in order to justify their own convictions about morality, sexuality, and the place of women in Buddhist soteriology. One will never regard the enduring fame of such classical authors as Murasaki Shikibu, Izumi Shikibu, or Sei Shonagon in quite the same light again. Joshua S. Mostow, University of British Columbia "Expansive in scope, this panoramic investigation covers works from the Heian era into the late medieval and early modern periods ... and adds significantly to the study not only of how Izumi Shikibu's specific figure was shaped according to various religious agendas, but of medieval literature more generally.... [ This book] represents an important contribution to the field of premodern Japanese literature. It sheds light on numerous works that have received less attention than they deserve, and encourages us to think thoroughly about the genealogy of figures whose fame and supposed life stories we tend to take for granted. Terry Kawashima, The International Journal of Asian Studies
