Datuk Dr. Zurinah Hassan is National Literary Laureate of Malaysia. She is the 13th writer and the first female writer to be conferred the tittle of Sasterawan Negara at a ceremony held on 26th of April 2016. The award is the highest award given to a writer in Malaysia. Prior to this Zurinah Hassan had received Southeast Asian Writers Award (SEA Write Award in 2004 and Sunthorn Phu Poets Award, 2013.