In about 974, a woman, known as Michitsuna no Haha (the Mother of Michitsuna), who gave birth to a male heir of the Fujiwara family, a dynastic clan that dominated court politics, wrote Kagerō Nikki ( The Kagerō Diary), laden with poems produced mostly for the poet’s correspondence with her unfaithful husband, Fujiwara Kaneie. The Kagerō Diary seems to have gained popularity soon after its circulation as it is attested, in part, by a reference in the famous historical narrative, Great Mirror ( Ōkagami), with its emphasis on the author’s brilliant poems contained within it. The Kagerō Diary attracts modern readership through its arresting, autobiographical accounts of the female protagonist that convey the gendered struggle intrinsic to Heian courtly society.