Hal Sirowitz is an internationally known poet and the author of five books of poetry: Mother Said; My Therapist Said; Before, During and After; Father Said; and Stray Cat Blues. His work has been translated into thirteen languages and published in many anthologies and magazines. He was awarded the Nebraska Book Award for Poetry, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. He is also the former Poet Laureate of Queens, New York. Hal has performed and appeared on MTV’s "Spoken Word Unplugged"; Lollapalooza; Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival; the Helsinki International Poetry Festival; the Jerusalem Conference of Writers and Poets; PBS’s "Poetry Heaven"; NPR’s "All Things Considered"; PBS’s "The United States of Poetry" and "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. Hal is a retired New York City public school teacher. He lives with his wife, the writer Minter Krotzer, in Philadelphia.