Literary circle

A literary circle  or coterie, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, is a "small group of writers (and others) bound together more by friendship and habitual association than by a common literary cause or style that might unite a school or movement. The term often has pejorative connotations of exclusive cliquishness". A literary circle differs from a writing circle, in that the latter usually includes only writers and the focus is on the process of writing. A literary circle also differs from a literary society, in that the latter need not contain any writers; members of a literary society come together to discuss or celebrate literary works or authors.

Famous or noteworthy examples include:


 * Wilton Circle, UK, 16th-century group centred on Mary Sidney
 * The Muiderkring, Netherlands, early 17th century
 * Wuppertal poets' circle, Germany, 1850s
 * Streatham Worthies, UK, late 18th century
 * The Bloomsbury Group, UK, c. 1907 to 1930
 * The Mutual Admiration Society, UK, 1910s
 * Whitechapel Boys, UK, early 20th century
 * Algonquin Roundtable, USA, 1919–1929
 * Florida group, Buenos Aires, 1920s
 * Stratford-on-Odéon, France, 1920s
 * El Floridita literary circle, Cuba, 1920s, which included Ernest Hemingway
 * The Harlem Renaissance, USA, 1920s and 1930s
 * The Inklings, UK, c. 1930s and 1940s
 * South Side Writers Group, USA, 1930s and 1940s
 * Budh Sabha, India, 1932 —
 * Misty poets, China, 1970s to 1990s