Born Harold Rosen to an unmarried Lithuanian Jewish immigrant in Brooklyn.

Norse broke with traditional verse forms and embraced a more direct, conversational language.

He penned the experimental cut-up novel Beat Hotel[6] in 1960 while living in Paris with William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso from 1959 to 1963.

[5] Returning to America in 1968, Norse arrived in Venice, California, near Charles Bukowski.

Norse is a two-time NEA grant recipient, and National Poetry Association award winner.