The Rumpus
  • My Account
  • Essays
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Comics
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • The First Book
    • Reviews
    • Themed Months
    • What to Read When
  • Columns
    • Beyond the Page
    • Close Reads
    • Collaborative Criticism
    • ENOUGH
    • Funny Women
    • Parallel Practice
    • Voices on Addiction
    • We Are More
    • Conversations With Writers Braver Than Me
    • Dear Sugar
    • Roxane Gay
    • All Columns
  • Store
  • Prize
  • Rumpus Membership
  • Merch
  • Letters in the Mail
  • Bonfire Merch
  • My Account
Become a MemberDonate
Become a Member Donate
The Rumpus
The Rumpus The Rumpus
  • My Account
  • Essays
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Comics
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • The First Book
    • Reviews
    • Themed Months
    • What to Read When
  • Columns
    • Beyond the Page
    • Close Reads
    • Collaborative Criticism
    • ENOUGH
    • Funny Women
    • Parallel Practice
    • Voices on Addiction
    • We Are More
    • Conversations With Writers Braver Than Me
    • Dear Sugar
    • Roxane Gay
    • All Columns
  • Store
  • Prize
0

Posts by tag

circus

13 posts
Read
  • Features & Reviews
  • Rumpus Original

Between Illusion and Reality: A Conversation with Erin Pringle

  • Shannon Perri
  • February 21, 2020
Erin Pringle discusses her debut novel, HEZADA! I MISS YOU.
Read
Read
  • Features & Reviews
  • Rumpus Original

Telling the Truth, Sideways: A Conversation with Tessa Fontaine

  • Casey Patrick
  • March 8, 2019
Tessa Fontaine discusses her debut memoir, THE ELECTRIC WOMAN.
Read
Read
  • Features & Reviews
  • Poetry
  • Rumpus Original

Telling Our Truths: A Conversation with Shaindel Beers

  • McKenzie Lynn Tozan
  • February 18, 2019
Shaindel Beers discusses her third collection, SECURE YOUR OWN MASK.
Read
Read
  • Features & Reviews
  • Rumpus Original

A Badass Just Because: Talking with Steph Post

  • Tabitha Blankenbiller
  • January 18, 2019
Steph Post discusses her new novel, MIRACULUM.
Read
Read
  • Brandon Hicks
  • Comics

The Wright Bros. & Their Incredible Time Machine

  • Brandon Hicks
  • March 25, 2018
Read
Read
  • Rumpus Original

The Last Greatest Show on Earth: Ringling vs. Reality

  • Shannon Fandler
  • June 29, 2017
In other words, something’s wrong when you turn to acrobats and lion tamers to anchor yourself in a spinning world.
Read
  • Other

A Circus, a Kiss

  • Stephanie Bento
  • June 29, 2016
The circus was small, a little tent in the center of a field, but of course we didn’t know it was small, we didn’t know there were bigger circuses in…
Read
Read
  • Rumpus Original

The Sunday Rumpus Essay: Words Fail

  • Martha Bayne
  • March 22, 2015
Martha Bayne runs away with the circus and finds unexpected meaning in the effort required to achieve its gaudy display. "Can it really be escapism," she asks, "if you're working so hard?"
Read
  • Other

The Human Monster

  • P.E. Garcia
  • December 1, 2014
[Julia seemed like] a monster to the whole world, an abnormality put on display for money, someone who had been taught a few artistic turns, like a trained animal. [But]…
Read
Read
  • Rumpus Original
  • Tessa Fontaine

Dispatch from the Carnival #3: Bloodlust

  • Tessa Fontaine
  • April 30, 2014
What does not occur to me at the moment of this bloodlust, will not until much later, is that I am actively seeking the violence. I want to witness the worst.
Read
Read
  • Features & Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Rumpus Original

The Rumpus Interview with Duncan Wall

  • Greg Hunter
  • March 26, 2014
Duncan Wall, a prominent circus theorist and advocate for circus arts, discusses his memoir, The Ordinary Acrobat, narratives of performance, and community-building with the nonprofit Circus Now.
Read
Read
  • Rumpus Original
  • Tessa Fontaine

Dispatch from the Carnival #2: The Snake Charmer

  • Tessa Fontaine
  • November 25, 2013
Sideshows themselves are a place where people come to see a public display of their private fears. Fear of deformity, of a disruption of the gender binary, of mutation, of disfigurement, of a crossover with the animal world, of being out of proportion.
Read

Posts pagination

1 2 Next
Become a Member!

BECOME A MONTHLY OR ANNUAL RUMPUS MEMBER AND RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, EDITORIAL INSIGHTS, MERCH DISCOUNTS, AND MORE! OUR GOAL IS TO REACH AT LEAST 600 MEMBERS BY THE END OF 2025 TO COVER OUR BASIC OPERATING COSTS.

Join today!
COMMUNITY SUPPORT KEEPS THE MAGAZINE GOING!

Founded in 2009, The Rumpus is one of the longest-running online literary magazines around. We’ve been independent from the start, which means we’re not connected with any academic institution, wealthy benefactor, or part of a larger publishing company. The vast majority of the magazine’s funding comes from reader support.

In other words, we can’t survive without YOU!

Make a Tax-Deductible Donation
Letters in the mail (from authors)

Receive letters from some of our favorite authors written just for Rumpus readers and sent straight into your (snail) mailbox 2x a month!

sign up now!

Keep in Touch

The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers our readers may already know and love. We want to bring new perspectives into the conversation that will make us all look deeper.

We believe that literature builds community—and if reading The Rumpus makes you feel more connected, please show your support! Get your Rumpus merch in our online store. Subscribe to receive Letters in the Mail from authors or join us by becoming a monthly or yearly Member.

We support independent bookstores! 10% of sales on any titles purchased through our Bookshop.org page or affiliate links benefits the magazine.

The Rumpus in your Inbox!
The Rumpus
  • Team
  • About & Writers’ Guidelines
  • Advertise
  • TOS and Privacy Policy
© 2025, The Rumpus.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.