Walkups
Lance Blomgren

May 2009
ISBN 978-1-894994-37-8
Short stories
4.25x7 inches, 144 pages
$15 CDN / US
New Format reprint of
ISBN 0-9685161-7-3
20 new pages of text and afterword

French Rights sold

Originally published in October 2000 Walkups was the first conundrum press book with a spine and began a slippery slope into the murky world of publishing. The book sold out its initial print run quickly and has been unavailable for many years. This  edition includes a dozen new stories by Blomgren in a fancy new package designed by Montreal artist Justin Stephens.

“Blomgren has created a credible narrative of loss, paranoia and psychological collapse against a panoramic swirl of poetically rendered human detail. In the process he’s also pulled off one of the most impressive literary debuts of the year.” — eye

“In his playful Walkups Lance Blomgren looks for the truth in the ordinary, the mythical in the mundane. Sometimes autobiographical, sometimes fantastical, the book’s diary-like entries work together to create a loose ‘story’ more imagistic than plot-driven.... Walkups is a playfully engaging invitation into a maze of truth and lies.”  — Montreal Review
of Books

“Dozens of brief, anonymous narratives create the sensation of overall loneliness experienced by a newcomer to the city. Blomgren’s perspective is that of an eternal outsider, the spying neighbour who nows the daily habits and neuroses of the people living nearby but not their names.... Blomgren’s skill as a writer lies in the way he seduces the reader and maintains a voyeuristic titillation .” — NOW

Lance Blomgren was born in Cumberland, British Columbia and currently lives in Dawson City, Yukon. His most recent book Corner Pieces, a collection of short fiction and urban proposals, was shortlisted for the Relit Award in 2005. His text, Liner, won the bpNichol Chapbook Award. His stories, essays and text-projects have been published and presented internationally. 

From 1995 to 2005, Blomgren resided primarily in Montreal, Quebec. A radio version of Walkups, in collaboration with visual artist Samuel Roy-Bois, was produced by the CBC in 2003. A French-language edition of the book, translated by Élizabeth Robert, was released in 2007.