Sarah Ruhl is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.
Ruhl was born in Wilmette, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. Originally, she intended to be a poet. However, after she studied under Paula Vogel

Paula Vogel

Paula Vogel is an American playwright and university professor. She received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive.-Early years:...

 at Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 (A.B., 1997; M.F.A., 2001), she was convinced to switch to playwrighting. Her first play was The Dog Play, written in 1995 for one of Vogel's classes. Her roots in poetry can still be seen in the way she uses language in her plays.