About this episode

Fran Fabriczki discusses her experiences growing up between Hungary and Los Angeles, exploring themes of cultural richness and antisemitism.

In this conversation, Fran Fabriczki discusses coming of age between Hungary and Los Angeles and her experiences with cultural richness and antisemitism between the two countries. We also discuss “homelooseness” in The Nearest Thing to Life by James Wood, and JD Salinger’s relationship with Jewishness through his short story “Down at the Dinghy.” Fran Fabriczki was born in Budapest. She has lived in Los Angeles and currently lives in London. She studied English at the University of Cambridge and worked in publishing for several years before becoming a novelist. She graduated from the University of East Anglia’s Creative Writing MA in 2022. Porcupines is her debut novel. In Porcupines, Sonia is a Hungarian immigrant who is raising her daughter, Mila on her own in sunny Los Angeles. Her days are a blur of not-quite-illegal business activities, dodging PTA moms, and baking birthday cakes laced with rum—minor mistakes that nevertheless continually remind her of everything she doesn’t understand about America and parenthood. Mila, meanwhile, is juggling violin and swimming lessons and navigating the treacherous social politics of school with the help of a less-than-helpful guidebook…

People in this episode

Host: Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Guest: Fran Fabriczki

Topics covered

• cultural richness
• antisemitism
• immigration
• coming of age
• Jewish identity

Keywords

• Fran Fabriczki
• Los Angeles
• Hungary
• antisemitism
• Jewishness
• Porcupines
• coming of age

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Nearest Thing to Life, Down at the Dinghy, Porcupines

Places: Hungary, Los Angeles, London

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