Divine Mischief

Divine Mischief is the first anthology collection of poetry and short stories by Montreal-born writer R.A.Lucas.

Divine Mischief is the first anthology collection of poetry and short stories by Montreal-born writer R.A.Lucas. Arranged in chronological order, it begins with a small selection of previously unpublished poems dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s. These are followed by a few poems from his first book, Rambling, which in turn is followed by poetry republished from his second book, For Billy Campbell & Company. His third book, Ancient Nights & Distant Music contained poetry and the first published examples of his photography. For this ebook, most of the poetry has be republished but none of the photos. Finally, a selection of new poetry written between 2008 and 2011 although some were inspired by the author’s time in Spain almost 40 years ago. 

Following the poetry are six short stories. The first five are from the early-1980s when the author was experimenting within the very broad area of fantasy fiction. 

The sixth and final story is taken from The Strathmore Stories, an as yet unpublished collection of fictionalized reminiscences about growing up in a rural setting in the 1950s.

Born in Montreal in 1946, Ralph Lucas was first published in a few Canadian small press magazines and in various U.S. and U.K. poetry anthologies in the late 1960s. His first book, Ramblings, was published by Alive Press in Guelph, Ontario in 1970. At the same time he was writing short science-fiction for broadcast in Toronto. His second book was published in 1974 and titled For Billy Campbell & Company. It was compiled from new poetry written while Lucas lived in Spain in 1973 and after his return to Montreal. After decades of not publishing, in 2008 he released Ancient Nights & Distant Music, an exercise combining his photography with a collection of new poetry. Divine Mischief is his fourth book.