The Downtown Writers Jam, Vol. 3: David Blomenberg

On Wednesday, February 25, 6 authors will gather at Indy Reads Books as part of The Downtown Writers Jam, Vol. 3: Jam & Juice fundraiser hosted by The Geeky Press + Indy Literary Pub Crawl. Join us for the Jam at Indy Reads Books (free) and then stop by the Juice at Indy Fringe Theater ($15 tickets). All proceeds go to Indy Reads.

Meanwhile, we wanted to introduce you to our third author: David Blomenberg.

David Blomenberg lives and works in Indianapolis, where he mostly has taught (at Purdue and DePauw) and written, but has spent time as a bank teller, street singer, furniture deupholsterer, glass-cutter, window glazer, carnival concessionaire, waiter, florist, plasterer, egg gatherer, and suspended ceiling installer.

His poetry and essays have been published in Poetry Salzburg Review, PRESA, Confrontation, Artifice, Tulane Review, and elsewhere.

You can find him on Twitter.

At The Downtown Writers Jam

What’s the name of the piece from which your DWJ story comes? That’s a very good question. ((Editor’s Note: Yes it is. That’s why we asked it.)) The piece comes from a series of essays that focus on what one does in order to get money in order to live, or, perhaps more specifically, money so that I might live. Depending on how optimistic I see the string of occupations I’ve had since High School, I could call it “The Grand Plan,” but more than likely it will end end up with something much more modest, such as “Interpersonal Relations and Home Improvement,” which might also be more accurate.

What was the question or idea that sparked that original piece? As with most things viewed after the fact by almost anyone, generally the driving question is “What on earth brought that on?” Everything is a cascade of cause and effect, and occasionally, it is interesting to look back and see each of those moments when the Plinko chip hits the pin and goes one way as opposed to another. There are other motivations afoot, of course, but that’s one of the elements that brought me to the point where I turned around and looked more closely.

Where can people find or buy your work? You can find David’s work here.

What should the audience expect from your storytelling at the Downtown Writers Jam? My high school English teacher impressed on us all the importance of the various parts of speech in communicating with other people. I plan on using all of those parts.

Get to Reading

Best book or long-form writing we should read, but probably haven’t? And why? There are a number of wonderful long works that don’t get read enough, and among the longest and most wonderful is The Man without Qualities by Robert Musil. He was unable to finish it before his death. Reading it is like standing on a magnificent bridge whose end disappears in fog: seeing the end of it isn’t as important as the experience of being carried by it somewhere into that mist.