Normand Poirier (1928 – February 3, 1981) was an American journalist, essayist, and newspaper editor.

[1] Having joined the New York Post in 1959, Poirier was considered "a star" reporter of "razor-sharp intellect and acute powers of observation.

[5] In August 1969, three months before news of the My Lai Massacre broke, Poirier's article An American Atrocity was published by Esquire magazine.

The story was one of the first journalistic accounts of a US war crime, detailing the gang-rape of a Vietnamese woman and the murder of 5 Vietnamese civilians by US Marines of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in the hamlet of Xuan Ngoc, near Chu Lai on the night of 23 September 1966.

[1] Credited as one of the first journalists to uncover American soldiers' atrocities during the Vietnam War,[1] Poirier is also noted as the popularizer of and regular at The Lion's Head, an after-hours hangout among New York City writers (including many New Journalism writers).,[10][11][12][13] In Pete Hamill's eulogy to Poirier in the New York Times, he recognizes Poirier as an early influence.