Photo by Ashley Smith, Wide Eyed Studios   

Kat Echevarría Richter (she/her) is an award-winning writer, former professional dancer, and professor of both First Year Writing and Dance Studies. She writes about matrescence, Puerto Rican identity, and American historiographies, usually with a side of humor or ill-fated romance. In 2025, Kat's essay "Becoming Boriqua" won First Prize from LMNL Arts and her short story "The Top Up" was nominated for a Pushcart. Kat holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers-Camden and her work has appeared in Glamour, The Adroit Journal, Philadelphia Stories, Skirt and elsewhere.

Kat also studied English Literature at Oxford University (New College) where she learned, among other things, that George Eliot is a woman. She completed her first graduate degree in Dance Anthropology at Roehampton University in London and her research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and anthologies.

​In 2011, Kat founded The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to the art of rhythm tap. She served as Artistic Director until 2024, receiving support from the Bartol Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Much to the chagrin of her neurotic but loveable rescue dog, Kat currently teaches at Rutgers-Camden and Stockton University and serves on the board of Historic Lemon Hill.