Today this GalleyCat editor hiked to the famous Algonquin Hotel to witness a 21st Century revision of the Algonquin Round Table. During the 1920s, a tough and brilliant group of literary minds that included George S. Kaufman, Dorothy Parker, and Harold Ross met at the Algonquin for daily sessions–nicknamed “The Vicious Circle.”
The new group united via Twitter, led by Bethanne Patrick and Denise Berthiaume back to the Algonquin for lunch. Thirty publishing types showed up for the inaugural lunch today, and they hope to hold quarterly lunches in the same spirit.
A few of the new members are pictured here, from left-to-right: Erin McHugh, Berthiaume, Patrick, and Robin Lenz.
“We were trying to think of a name,” explained Berthiaume. “Vicious Circle didn’t seem like the right name or philosophy for publishing right now. We called it the Virtuous Circle–the complete opposite.”