The Map and the Territory: 100 Years of Collecting at UCLA: The Fowler Museum is honored to host this exhibition, scheduled to open this Fall, subject to the pandemic. It features over 200 objects from 13 diverse campus collections, including the design mock-up for the title page of the First Edition of Ray Bradbury’s first novel, The Martian Chronicles (1950). On the occasion of Bradbury’s 100th birthday, we have partnered with Zócalo Public Square to celebrate his legacy at UCLA and beyond.

Are We Living in a World Ray Bradbury Tried to Prevent?
A Zócalo/Fowler Museum at UCLA Event with ZYZZYVA Magazine

Moderated by Oscar Villalon, Managing Editor, ZYZZYVA

Imagine a society where truth and knowledge have no value, people are glued to their screens, and world war feels imminent. Or think of a place enraptured by the seductive promises of a carnival-hawker con man. Sound familiar? The first, of course, is the dystopia of Fahrenheit 451, the story of a firefighter charged with burning books in order to destroy knowledge. The second is the fictional Green Town, Illinois, the setting of Something Wicked This Way Comes, the story of a sinister traveling carnival leader and the young boys who thwart his plot to enslave their home. They are two of the most famous novels by one of the most brilliant and beloved science fiction writers of all time: Ray Bradbury. The author, who saw the dangers inherent to the modern world, used a variety of genres, including fantasy, horror, and science fiction, to illuminate pressing issues like censorship and xenophobia.

Image Credit: Ray Bradbury at UCLA project to illustrate characters from his science fiction dramas, 1964. Frampton, Mary. Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1964. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives (Collection 1429). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.