The Red Circle is Sherlock's home in Washington DC. Now in our eighth decade, we continue to celebrate his immortality and enjoy each other's company. All are welcome to join us and share our interest in all things Sherlockian and Doylean.
Welcome
The Red Circle is Sherlock's home in Washington DC. Now in our eighth decade, we continue to celebrate his immortality and enjoy each other's company. All are welcome to join us and share our interest in all things Sherlockian and Doylean.
Next Meeting
How does a September picnic sound?
We're working on a live outdoor gathering
as our first post-pandemic in-person event
No papers. . .No quizzes
Just Sherlockian Camaraderie
Details are still being worked out
Watch This Space!
Archives
2021
- August 6 - 7 A Scintillation of Scions VIRTUAL The pandemic has forced this well-regarded conference to go virtual for the second year. Keep up-to-date here.
- August 11 Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery VIRTUAL Playwright Ken Ludwig invites Sherlockians to a lively discussion about his play. See information at left. Free Zoom registration here.
- August 21 Book Fair and Open House A great chance to see one of the finest re-creations of the famous Baker Street sitting room and come away with books and more. It happens at Denny Dobry's house in Reading, PA. Note: Only those who have been fully vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus will be welcome to attend the Book Fair/Open House. Attendees must register with Denny by August 14th with your intention to attend. Full information is here.
- October 2 First Annual BSI Trust Lecture VIRTUAL This lecture, which is free and open to all, will be delivered by Roberta Pearson, Professor of Film and Television Studies in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham. The lecture will begin at 2pm Eastern Time, and Zoom registration will be required. See more info at the BSI's save the date page here.
October 6 Sherlock Holmes Under the Magnifying Glass: The Game's Afoot VIRTUAL It's always fun when our own Dan Stashower teams up with actor Scott Sedar to do a presentation at the Smithsonian Institution. And this one is virtual, so Sherlockians and future Sherlockians from near and far have a chance to see Dan's latest offering. It happens at 6:30 Eastern Time on October 6, and details are here.- November 6 A Saturday with Sherlock Holmes In a gratifying sign that things are beginning to return to normal, this traditional and popular event will be held live at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, beginning at 11am. Details to follow. Save the date.
- December 15 - 19 DisCon III, The 79th World Science Fiction Convention, will be held at the Omni Sheraton Hotel in Washington. Will there be any Sherlockian content? Time will tell. Information is here.
2022
- January 11 - 16 Sherlock Holmes Birthday Weekend returns to New York City, live and in person. The BSI dinner (invitation only) will be held on January 14. All other events will be announced in due course, and as always, will be open to all. The schedule is likely to be similar to years prior to 2021 and will be posted here as details become available.
- July 29 - 31 Sherlock Holmes and the British Empire This conference, sponsored by the Baker Street Irregulars, which had been scheduled for 2020 has been postponed once again and rescheduled for July 29 - 31, 2022. The venue has not changed and the event will still be held at the Bear Mountain Inn in the Hudson Valley, near West Point, New York. You need not be a BSI member to attend, and if you would like to receive direct notifications about this and other BSI doings, you can join their email list by clicking here.
For a much more comprehensive list of Sherlockian meetings and events around the United States and beyond, see Ron Fish's
Sherlockian Calendar.
Routes from the Reichenbach captures worldwide audience The July 10 joint meeting of The Red Circle and The Reichenbach Irregulars of Switzerland boasted some 150 participants from at least 15 countries. It was a grand launch party for the new book from the Reichenbach Irregulars, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle and Switzerland. Drawn from one of the book's main themes, 
the program for the day was "Routes from the Reichenbach," as three experts on both Sherlock Holmes and Switzerland's challenging terrain presented their views about how Holmes managed to foil Moriarty's henchmen and travel safely from the falls to Florence after the professor's precipitous plunge from the precipice. The research and creativity of our special guests Eva Iggland, Guy Marriott and Bryan Stone were evident as they each mapped a different route, and their exuberant turns at playing the Grand Game were appreciated by all. In the USA, the book is available from amazon; in Europe it's available from Books on Demand. And, the highly entertaining video of the event is available simply by clicking the screen.
Ken Ludwig's Comedy Play Club features Baskerville Many of us remember fondly the Red Circle's September 2014 meeting, where Tony and Olivier Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig told us all about his play Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, which would have its world premiere at Washington's Arena Stage the following January. After that auspicious debut, and after many more productions 
around the world, Baskerville will be the subject of Ken's online Comedy Play Club, a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, August 11 at 4:45pm ET. Ken cordially invites all his Sherlockian friends to join him and Ryan McBride, Artistic Director of the Mercury Theatre in Colchester, England and director of Mercury's new production of Baskerville. In addition to a discussion, Ken tells us we'll be treated to a few scenes from Mercury's staging. The details are in Ken's newsletter, and you can click up your free Zoom registration here. Sounds like great fun.
Sherlock Holmes and Advertising was the topic of the day at The Red Circle's June 19 Zoom meeting. Joining us from Toronto was special guest Peggy Perdue who took us on a guided tour of the many ways the Great Detective has become not just a literary icon, but a marketing goldmine for products from tobacco to alcohol to clothing to toys--just to name a few. Peggy's talk was richly illustrated and tremendously enjoyable. Bev Wolov provided context to Peggy's talk with a fascinating "prequel" discussion of advertising milestones. To conclude the meeting, a quiz from Dana Richards picked up on the advertising theme. The video of the meeting is available right here, simply by clicking Peggy's picture.
Carla Coupe's Meeting Notes for the June 19 meeting are available here.
A Broken Circle Our friend Randall Stock is well known for his “Best of Sherlock Holmes” lists. Paul Thomas Miller of Portsmouth aims to become just as famous in the opposite direction. His “Doyle’s Rotary Coffin” society was inspired by Will Ferrell’s Holmes & Watson, and features all manner of what he considers Holmes at his worst. Case in point: by mashing together The Red Circle’s namesake story and the popular Christian hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” Paul offers the music video “The Red Circle Will Be Broken.” You’re invited to watch and listen here.
You say Gomorrah, we say Camorra "Gomorrah" (2014) is a four-season Italian television series that aired in the U.S. on SundanceTV in 2016, a fictionalized account of today's crime syndicate in Naples. The title of the series is a pun on the real name of the syndicate, the Camorra, a society well known to Sherlockians who are aware that the manuscript of "The Red Circle" states "Camorra" (when the story was published the name became the "Carbonari"). The series is streaming now on HBO Max (in case you subscribe to the service, or want an excuse to). You can find more information--and watch the trailer for free--here. There are subtitles in English, of course; when the series aired in Italy there were subtitles in Italian, because the dialogue in the series is in the Neapolitan dialect, rather than in "proper" Italian. Fair warning: the series is not for the faint-hearted.
Senter Essay Contest Winners Announced and Published The Beacon Society has announced the winners of the 2021 R. Joel Senter Essay Contest for young people, and has published the prize-winning writings. First prize in the 7th to 9th grade category went to Kaitlyn Polchow for her essay "Thinking Like Sherlock Holmes." She begins, "Ever since I was young. . ." Dear me, dear me. Reading the work of these young Sherlockians is a joy, and you can do it simply by clicking here.
Sherlockian Societies info and interactive map are featured on the new and extremely useful website from the Beacon Society. Most Sherlockians know that the Beacon Society focuses its light on bringing the exploits of the Great Detective to young people. To advance that cause--and to provide an excellent resource for all Sherlockians--the Beacon Society's new website includes great information about Sherlockian societies along with a map pinpointing active groups and giving contact information for each. The Sherlockian Society page is here, and the home page for the new website is here.
Red Circle Pins Available The pin has been proudly worn all over the Sherlockian world, from Rockville to the Reichenbach, so Red Circle members (which includes everyone who's ever been to a meeting) will treasure having their own. The price is $14.95 each, which includes shipping anywhere. Send an email to Tom Fahres to order. Scuttlebutt: One Fixed Point in a Changing Age Our own Peter E. Blau's monthly Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press has endured for some 50 years, and has a permanent home right here on our website. It's the most remarkable collection of Sherlockian news and notes anywhere, and your webmaster recommends a monthly visit. The very latest edition is available now, as are past numbers. It's just a click away--use the "Scuttlebutt" button at the top of the page.
- Be an Inner Circle Contributor We welcome submissions from all quarters for this page. Please direct materials to the webmaster, alan@redcircledc.org
- For earlier, archived items from The Inner Circle, click here.
