author
Arthur Waley
1889–1966
Best known for bringing classic Chinese and Japanese literature into clear, living English, this influential translator helped open a new world of poetry and storytelling to Western readers. His versions were admired not just for their scholarship, but for their grace and readability.
3 Audiobooks
The Poet Li Po, A.D. 701-762
by Arthur Waley, Bai Li
Zen Buddhism, and Its Relation to Art
by Arthur Waley
The Nō Plays of Japan
by Arthur Waley
About the author
Born in Tunbridge Wells, England, in 1889, Arthur Waley became one of the most admired English translators of Asian literature in the twentieth century. He studied classics at King's College, Cambridge, and later worked at the British Museum, where his interest in East Asian texts deepened into a lifelong calling.
Waley earned lasting fame for translations that introduced many English-language readers to Chinese and Japanese poetry, The Tale of Genji, and The Pillow Book. He was known for making difficult, distant works feel vivid and approachable, combining careful scholarship with a natural literary style.
Over the course of his career, he received major honors including the CBE, the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, and appointment to the Order of the Companions of Honour. He died in 1966, but his translations remain widely read and continue to shape how many readers first encounter the literature of East Asia.