Which fellow poets belonged to Catullus’s literary circle?

Catullus was a prominent member of a group of poets known as the neōteroi (or "new poets"), who sought to move away from traditional Roman epic styles in favor of the refined, sophisticated, and allusive techniques of Alexandrian Greek models.123

Within this literary circle, the following poets are identified as his contemporaries and associates:

• Gaius Licinius Calvus: A close friend and fellow poet who shared Catullus’s literary tastes and genres. He is frequently mentioned alongside Catullus in historical and critical accounts of the period.43
• Gaius Helvius Cinna: A friend of Catullus who wrote the epyllion Zmyrna. Catullus famously praised this work in his 95th poem as a model of the new movement, and it is possible that Cinna accompanied Catullus on his journey to Bithynia.156

These poets, along with others in their circle, were often referred to by the orator Cicero as poetae novi—a term that reflected his critical view of their departure from the traditional Latin literary standards of the time.123