“MARTA/REMEMBERING THE EXILES”
This program features a conversation with Marta Feuchtwanger and a impressionistic soundscape of the Villa Aurora as heard through its organ.
Part 1 - 45:16
Marta Feuchtwanger was the widow of the German-Jewish novelist Lion Feuchtwanger, best known for works like Jud Süß and The Oppermanns. Together, the Feuchtwangers fled Nazi Germany and eventually settled in Los Angeles in the early 1940s, where they became central figures in the community of European intellectual exiles living in Pacific Palisades. Their home, Villa Aurora, became a cultural hub for émigré artists, writers, and thinkers.
In this particular excerpt from Tape 28, Marta speaks on the rare volumes in the Feucthwanger library and recounts her experience of the 1952 Bel Air wildfire that came dangerously close to Villa Aurora. At the time, Marta was in her mid-80s and largely confined to her home. She describes watching the flames approach from her balcony, refusing evacuation, and the interventions of firefighters—along with her memories of fleeing other fires in the past, both literal and political.
This excerpt comes from a 50-hour interview conducted by Lawrence Weschler on September 15, 1975 and completed under the auspices of the UCLA Oral History Program.
Recording courtesy of the UCLA Department of Special Collections.
Transcript
Part II - 35:00
Eight graduate writers from USC's School of Dramatic Arts MFA Dramatic Writing Program will be presenting short plays inspired by and in dialogue with Lion Feuchtwanger's essay "The Working Problems of the Writer in Exile." Actors Michael Khachanov, Mehrnaz Mohammadi, and Arye Gross will play the roles as these new short plays examine how artists and their works survive being torn from their roots and whether it is possible to transplant one's life and art – and live again.
Feuchtwanger Refreshed is an ongoing collaboration between USC's School of Dramatic Arts MFA Dramatic Writing Program, USC Libraries, and Villa Aurora through which graduate playwrights and their instructors present short scenes inspired by archival holdings and writings from USC's Feuchtwanger Memorial Library.
Broadcast live on KFQM 101.5 by LOOKOUT FM.
This program features a conversation with Marta Feuchtwanger and a impressionistic soundscape of the Villa Aurora as heard through its organ.
Part 1 - 45:16
Marta Feuchtwanger was the widow of the German-Jewish novelist Lion Feuchtwanger, best known for works like Jud Süß and The Oppermanns. Together, the Feuchtwangers fled Nazi Germany and eventually settled in Los Angeles in the early 1940s, where they became central figures in the community of European intellectual exiles living in Pacific Palisades. Their home, Villa Aurora, became a cultural hub for émigré artists, writers, and thinkers.
In this particular excerpt from Tape 28, Marta speaks on the rare volumes in the Feucthwanger library and recounts her experience of the 1952 Bel Air wildfire that came dangerously close to Villa Aurora. At the time, Marta was in her mid-80s and largely confined to her home. She describes watching the flames approach from her balcony, refusing evacuation, and the interventions of firefighters—along with her memories of fleeing other fires in the past, both literal and political.
This excerpt comes from a 50-hour interview conducted by Lawrence Weschler on September 15, 1975 and completed under the auspices of the UCLA Oral History Program.
Recording courtesy of the UCLA Department of Special Collections.
Transcript
Part II - 35:00
Eight graduate writers from USC's School of Dramatic Arts MFA Dramatic Writing Program will be presenting short plays inspired by and in dialogue with Lion Feuchtwanger's essay "The Working Problems of the Writer in Exile." Actors Michael Khachanov, Mehrnaz Mohammadi, and Arye Gross will play the roles as these new short plays examine how artists and their works survive being torn from their roots and whether it is possible to transplant one's life and art – and live again.
Feuchtwanger Refreshed is an ongoing collaboration between USC's School of Dramatic Arts MFA Dramatic Writing Program, USC Libraries, and Villa Aurora through which graduate playwrights and their instructors present short scenes inspired by archival holdings and writings from USC's Feuchtwanger Memorial Library.
Broadcast live on KFQM 101.5 by LOOKOUT FM.
Listen to “MARTA/OUTERLANDS”