A list is represented as a sequence of objects surrounded by parentheses, as in (1 2 a [4 5]), possibly with a dot between the second-to-last and last elements in the list. A literal list can be read from a file or from the command line, but must be quoted (using a quote operator) within code to make it literal.
The list function creates a list from its arguments. listq creates a list from its arguments without evaluation.
Gamma> list(4+5,6,"hi",#xref);
(9 6 "hi" xref)
Gamma> listq(4+5,6,"hi",#xref);
((+ 4 5) 6 "hi" 'xref)
Gamma>
See the Start a Process section of the Common Functions for Any Program chapter (Tutorial Two), or the GTK: Sending Queries section or the Photon: Sending Queries section of the History Functions chapter in the Cogent Tools Demo and Tutorials book for examples of this function used in context.