The True History of the Circus

BACKGROUND This memoir essay is situated within the contemporary genre of personal narrative nonfiction. Its form and style build on the nonfiction writing of Geoff Dyer, David Shields and Nick Flynn. This work constitutes research at the intersection between nonfiction - building on the writer's book Our Father Who Wasn't There (2010) - and the interdisciplinary Circus Oz Living Archive project. The latter seeks to explore in a new and creative way how the history of a collective circus might be made manifest through a digital archive in which videos interweave with memories and personal narratives. CONTRIBUTION The project entailed the generation of a creative methodology to elucidate insights into Circus Oz. The resulting essay contributes new knowledge by applying contemporary nonfiction narrative techniques to address questions of how to represent lived experience in relation to the historical development of the iconic Australian performing arts company, Circus Oz. The essay deploys strategies of humour and playfulness, as well as personal narrative, to map the borderlines between history, memory and the archive. SIGNIFICANCE This work forms part of the ARC-Linkage Circus Oz Living Archive project (2010-14). It was selected for publication in Griffith Review (Edition 33, 2011) one of Australia's foremost literary journals. This edition of Griffith Review was favourably reviewed in leading newspapers and journals: The Australian Book Review, The Australian, and The NZ Herald. The national ArtsHub site singled out this particular memoir/essay for praise (August 27, 2011).