Remembering Dorothy Parker

Sunday August 23, 2026  – 2pm ET

Register for Zoom here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Z7mLnyMiRfidAzDKTAuueA 

Dorothy Parker (August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, literary critic and writer of fiction. Based in New York, she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.

Parker rose to acclaim, both for her literary works published in magazines, such as The New Yorker, and for her role as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. In the early 1930s, Parker traveled to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting. Her successes there, including two Academy Award nominations, were curtailed when her involvement in left-wing politics resulted in her being placed on the Hollywood blacklist.

Dismissive of her own talents, she deplored her reputation as a wisecracker. Nevertheless, both her literary output and reputation for sharp wit have endured.

Dorothy Parker Quotes

“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”

“Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.”

“Tell him I was too fucking busy– or vice versa.”

“That woman speaks eighteen languages, and can’t say ‘No’ in any of them.”

“Ducking for apples — change one letter and it’s the story of my life.”

“A hangover is the wrath of grapes.”

“Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it and it darts away.”

“Of course I talk to myself. I like a good speaker, and I appreciate an intelligent audience.”

“I’m not a writer with a drinking problem, I’m a drinker with a writing problem.”

“She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.”