Abstract

Walkups is a series of linked narrative prose poems set in various Montreal apartments. Titled after the outdoor "walkup" staircases typical of Montreal's row-house architecture, these pieces take the reader on a tour of some of the city's apartments, providing glimpses into the ways in which our designed living spaces influence our attitudes and perceptions: the building blocks (indeed, architecture) of our notions of self. Composed as a series of poetic documentaries, Walkups presents detailed, voyeuristic snapshots of the goings-on and mundane dramas that people enact within their private spaces.