Mary Caroline Richards (July 13, 1916, Weiser, Idaho – September 10, 1999, Kimberton, Pennsylvania) was an American poet, potter, and writer best known for her book Centering: in Pottery, Poetry and the Person.

[2] Her teaching experience and growth as an artist while at Black Mountain College prepared the foundation for most of her work in life, both as an educator and creator.

In 1985, while living at the Kimberton Camphill Village she began teaching workshops with Matthew Fox at the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, CA during the winter months.

[7] Here began many of the associations which connect her to the music and art worlds, through friendships with David Tudor, Lou Harrison and John Cage in music, Merce Cunningham and Remy Charlip in dance, Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Robert Duncan (loosely known as the "Black Mountain Poets") in literature, and Lyle Bongé and Joe Fiore in the visual arts.

1, June 1951) of The Black Mountain College Review was printed, featuring a Noh play by Nick Cernovich, "High Speed Computing Machines" by Natasha Goldowski, poems by Fielding Dawson and Joel Oppenheimer, linoleum cuts by H. Roco, and other contributions by Mary Fitton Fiore, Russell Edson, and Alex Kemeny.

[9] While at Black Mountain College, Richards befriended student James Leo Herlihy, who went on to be a noted novelist, playwright and actor.

When she resigned her faculty position at Black Mountain College after the summer of 1951,[3] she moved to New York City along with pianist and Cage associate David Tudor.

[3] There they joined John Cage and Merce Cunningham, where they collaborated with others to include Ray Johnson, Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Weil, Paul Taylor, and Viola Farber.

[10] She also began to work on the first English translation of Anton Artaud's The Theatre and Its Double,[1] which was published by Grove Press in 1958 to wide acclaim.

[3] Richards's translation is considered the definitive English version of the essays and was instrumental in introducing Artaud's work in the United States.

wrote about her experience at Black Mountain College as "challenging the intellectual imagination and being a time for a very alive and vibrant artistic community."

During a Summer Institute at Black Mountain College, Daniel Rhodes, Warren MacKenzie, and Peter Voulkos were invited to teach pottery for three weeks each.

[8] In 1954 Richards, Tudor, and Cage, among other former Black Mountain faculty, became part of the Gate Hill Cooperative community, also known as The Land, in Stony Point, Rockland County, New York, founded by the architect Paul Williams.

[3] In 1965, Richards lifelong friend, potter Paulus Berensohn purchased 100 acres of land outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania for the creation of the Endless Mountains Farm art colony.