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Hal Sirowitz

1949 – 2025

American poet

Poet Special education teacherPoet laureate
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About Hal Sirowitz

Lived 1949 – 2025 (aged 76). Hal Sirowitz was an American poet, special education teacher and poet laureate.

Harold Sirowitz (March 6, 1949 – October 17, 2025) was an American poet who was named the Poet Laureate of Queens, New York.

Life and career Sirowitz was born on March 6, 1949, in Manhattan. He earned a degree from Hofstra in education. He first began to attract attention at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe where he was a frequent competitor in their Friday Night Poetry Slam. He eventually made the 1993 Nuyorican Poetry Slam team, and competed in the 1993 National Poetry Slam (held that year in San Francisco) along with his Nuyorican teammates Maggie Estep, Tracie Morris, and Regie Cabico.

He would later perform his poetry on stages across the country, and on television programs such as MTV's Spoken Word: Unplugged and PBS's The United States of Poetry. He wrote eleven books of poetry, including the volumes Mother Said, My Therapist Said and Father Said. He was the best-selling translated poet in Norway, where Mother Said has been adapted for the stage and turned into a series of animated cartoons.

Sirowitz was a 1994 recipient of an NEA Fellowship in Poetry and was the Poet Laureate of Queens. He worked as a special education teacher in the New York public school system for 23 years. He was married to the writer Mary Minter Krotzer.

On October 17, 2025, Sirowitz died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 76.

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Awards
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
Also known as
Harold Sirowitz

People in Hal Sirowitz's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Hal Sirowitz's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Hal Sirowitz?

American poet (1949–2025)

When was Hal Sirowitz born?

Hal Sirowitz was born on 6 March 1949 in United States.

When did Hal Sirowitz die?

Hal Sirowitz died on 17 October 2025.

What was Hal Sirowitz's occupation?

Hal Sirowitz was a poet, special education teacher and poet laureate.

What nationality was Hal Sirowitz?

Hal Sirowitz was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Hal Sirowitz

· Wikidata: Q5272088

· DBpedia: Hal Sirowitz

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Hal Sirowitz. https://biography.guide/hal-sirowitz/

MLA: "Hal Sirowitz." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/hal-sirowitz/.

Chicago: "Hal Sirowitz." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/hal-sirowitz/.

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