Zurinah Hassan is Malaysia literary laureate (SASTERAWAN NEGARA), and the first female writer to be awarded the title. She had also received Southeast Asia Write Award in 2004 and the Sunthorn Phu Poetry Prize in 2013 (an award of recognition for outstanding poets in the ASEAN country).  She reads syair at cultural events and has performed this traditional poetry  in India, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei.

Zurinah had published  collection of poems, short stories, literary studies, a novel, and a memoir. Although better known as a poet  but Zurinah also won the Premier Literary Award, Hadiah Sastera Utusan (Utusan Literature Prize), National Library Book Prize for short stories and memoirs. Her work has been translated into several languages. Her book Facing The Harbor has been published in  English, Spanish, Russian and French translation.

Zurinah Hassan was born on June 13, 1949 in Alor Setar, Kedah, received her early education in a Malay school  in Tikam Batu, Sungai Petani Convent School and Sultanah Asma School , Alor Setar before studying at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang (Penang) . She had served as a Senior Information Officer in Ministry of Information Malaysia, a lecturer at the University of Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia in addition to Guest Writer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Zurinah obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from USM, Master of Arts degree from UPM and a Ph.D from the University of Malaya.