Gay Girl Prayers by Emily Austin

The extreme level of sass in Emily Austin'sGay Girl Prayersdoes not mean that this collection is irreverent. On the contrary, in rewriting Bible verses to affirm and uplift queer, feminist, and trans realities, Austin invites readers into a giddy celebration of difference and a tender appreciation for the lives and perspectives of "strange women."

Packed with zingy one liners, sexual innuendo, self-respect, U-Hauling, and painfully earnest declarations of love, this is gayness at its best, harnessed to a higher purpose and ready to fight the powers that be.(Brick Books)

• 37 poetry collections to read this spring

Emily Austin is an Ottawa-based writer. Her debut novel, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, was longlisted for The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour and shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award and the Ottawa Book Award.