The multi-award winner, who began her career as a country music artist, admitted she spent her childhood "fixated" on Nashville, the home of country music, in a statement delivered on her behalf by the Executive Director of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Mark Ford.
Her fellow nominees this year included Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, and Phil Vasser. Lyle Lovett will also take the honor as the Veteran Songwriter/Artist, Bruce Channel as Veteran Songwriter, and both Lee Thomas Miller and Shawn Camp as Contemporary Songwriters.
"From the time I started writing songs as a child, I fixated on Nashville as the perfect place to be," Taylor, 36, said in acknowledgement of the accolade.
She explained that from a young age, she had yearned to spend time with the city's performers as she learned her craft.
"I wanted to learn with and from the best, and get to immerse myself in a community of storytellers. And thankfully, Nashville turned out to be exactly what I dreamed of, a town that validated and prioritised hard work, determination, and imagination, where the writers show up to work every day, even when the mysterious muses and the magic don't."
Taylor added the nomination - which arrived just months after she re-entered the country-music charts with her song I Knew It, I Knew You, from the Toy Story 5 soundtrack - left her feeling deep gratitude.
"To be honoured by this city I love so much is a beautiful thing," she said, "and I'm very grateful."
