BOOK / "CENTER." Mary Caroline Richards

Poetry / Essay

Mary Caroline Richards (Idaho, 1916–Pennsylvania, 1999) described herself as a teacher, writer, ceramist, and poet. In 1945, after earning a degree in English Literature from the University of Berkeley, she joined the faculty of the legendary Black Mountain College. There, she founded the Black Mountain Press with her students in writing and literature. M.C. Richards served as the head of the faculty from 1949 to 1951 and returned in 1953 to study ceramics and sculpture. With an interest in communal living, she became part of the Gate Hill Cooperative in Stony Point, known as "The Land." It was there that she shared a studio with ceramist Karen Karnes for ten years and wrote her most famous work, "Centering: in Pottery, Poetry and the Person" (1962), a countercultural classic published by Wesleyan University Press. In this book, Richards explores deep interdisciplinary thinking, connecting the potter's craft, poetry, creative processes, and the inner life of the individual. Centering the clay on the wheel becomes a metaphor for centering oneself. Alias is now presenting this fascinating work to the Spanish-speaking audience for the first time, translated by Eva Cruz Yáñez.

M.C. Richards continued her beloved work as a teacher until her death in 1999, following the influence of Rudolf Steiner. Her contributions also include her translation of "Le Théâtre et son double," introducing Antonin Artaud to the North American avant-garde scene in 1958, as well as her works "The Crossing Point: Selected Talks and Writings" (1973) and "Toward Wholeness: Rudolf Steiner Education in America" (1980).

"With an astonishing mix in the style of Zen of jokes, proverbs, anecdotes, poems (her own), folk tales, myths, and personal experiences, Professor Richards dives directly and disturbingly into the inert parts of our being, which we suddenly find vulnerable, mysterious, and alive." – Dorothy Van Ghent, Carleton Miscellany.

Title: 26. CENTRAR en cerámica,
en poesía y en la persona.
Author: Mary Caroline Richards
Size: 21.5 x 14 cm
Binding: Paperback
Genre: Essay
Weight: 310 grams
Language: Spanish
Publisher: Alias
Year: 2024
Pages: 222