Cirrus@Austlit

Founded in 1977, Circus Books was the paperback imprint of the Melbourne-based independent publishing house Outback Press. The name was chosen as a reference to the University of Melbourne Magazine Society's publication Circus, which began in 1971 under the joint editorship of Alfred (Fred) Milgrom and Michael Bond. (It ceased in 1973.) The Circus imprint is believed to have been set up by Milgrom, who was then one of the four directors of Outback Press.

Among Circus Books' early titles were two novels by Charlotte Vale Allen: Hidden Meanings and Another Kind of Magic (both 1977). Its titles over the next three years, numbering at least thirty, were varied and ranged from science fiction (Mad Max, 1979), through to horror (Thirst, 1979), self-help (How to Trim Your Hips and Shape Your Thighs, 1979), biography (Onassis: An Extraordinary Life, 1978), gastronomy (The Taming of the Junk Food Monster, 1978), and reference/guide books (such as the 1979 Melbourne Restaurant Guide).

Circus Books' demise was a direct result of the closing down of Outback Press in 1980.