He was familiar with Waka (Japanese poems), Shibun (prose and poetries) and Renga (linked verses), and some of his Waka were selected to be part of Chokusenshu (anthology of poems collected by Imperial command).
和歌や詩文、連歌など公家文化にも親しみ、頼之が詠んだ和歌が勅撰集に入撰している。