Introduction
40th Anniversary Edition of Bravura

    Bravura first emerged in the mid-1960s, and for many of us, the 1960s exist not so much as a definitive time but as a collection of images stuffed into the dusty suitcase of our minds.  Even for those of us who lived through the decade, these images have almost become detached from their historical context.  Tie-dye shirts, Nehrus, Peter Max painting, black lights, Barbies, the pill, TM, LSD, free Love, free speech, and "Free Abby Hoffman" are but a few which come to mind.

    But of course the 1960s amount to much more than a collection of cultural images.  Tremendous social change and tumult marked the period.  The Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of JFK, Women's Liberation, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Vietnam, The Bay of Pigs, student movements, the Peace Corps-- indeed suggest a more complicated social history. 

    One important legacy of the 1960s, especially for those of us concerned with the Bravura and literature at Palomar, is an appreciation of the important role creativity plays in all our lives.  Another is the idea that each of us has a voice that should be heard.  From this perspective, this year's Bravura represents a celebration of these very ideas, ideas that were present in the beginning.

    Curiously, while the social and cultural contexts have shifted, familiar themes and preoccupations persist.  Globalism, rising corporatism, international and cultural conflict of a new kind may have replaced Vietnam, civil rights marches and the mourning of a President, but love, the road, loneliness and the need for acceptance remain defining issues in the lives of Palomar writers.

    So, as before, in an ever-changing world no less vexing and intriguing than it was forty years ago, we celebrate the voices of Palomar.

- Dr. Rocco Versaci and Dr. Carlton Smith -
Bravura advisors