A chancellor of the American Academy of Poets since 2006, Kay Ryan is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, three Pushcart Prizes, fellowships from both the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ingram Merrill Award. She was most recently named the sixteenth poet laureate of the United States. She has lived in Marin County, California, since 1971.