Redactive

Alan Thomas is an associate professor of English at the University of
Toronto.

Lusk is a poet of the word. That is, she does not present a story, a
setting, or a situation through words: she gives us words—in their
magnificent variety of textures and meanings, and in different patterns
and streams—and leaves the rest to those who read them. The title
alone reveals this approach, with its play on the word “redaction”
(i.e., preparing a manuscript for publication converted to an adjective,
which delivers the reader an injunction to read actively.

In a back-cover note, West Coast critic Warren Tallman calls attention
to the “warm-voiced tonal resonance” of Lusk’s work. Pleasures do
lie in the flow of the language; however, Tallman’s degree of
sensitivity to the poet’s personal voice will not come easily to
readers unaccustomed to this form of avant-garde writing, which places
such responsibility on the reader.