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Emily Austin (often listed as Emily R. Austin) is a Canadian writer whose published work includes four adult novels and a poetry collection. Her novels are not a continuing series, but they share a recognizable voice and overlapping themes, so reading in release order is the clearest way to see how her fiction develops.
What matters for reading order
- No shared-universe sequencing: you won’t be “lost” if you read the novels out of order.
- Release order still helps: it preserves how her style, stakes, and character focus evolve.
- Poetry is its own lane: it doesn’t connect to the novels’ continuity.
The novels, in publication order (cleanest path)
- Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead (2021): A anxious, directionless woman accidentally lands a church job and tries to hide how close her fear is to the surface.
- Interesting Facts About Space (2024): A space-obsessed woman organizes her life around facts and routines until real-world danger forces her to rethink what “safe” means.
- We Could Be Rats (2025): Two sisters with a volatile history try to reconnect, only to discover their childhood stories don’t match, and both might be right.
- Is This a Cry for Help? (2026): A woman whose life looks “fine” on paper starts unraveling in private, and the mess becomes impossible to keep politely contained.
Edition note: Some countries list different release months for the same book due to local editions, but the story order above is the reliable reading order.
Poetry (separate from the novels)
- Gay Girl Prayers (2024): A witty, sharp collection that reframes religious language through queer desire, skepticism, and survival.
Three ways to read Emily Austin without overplanning
If you want the simplest “just tell me where to begin”
Start with Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, then continue straight down the novel list.
If you want the most current entry point
Start with Is This a Cry for Help?, then circle back to the 2021 novel and read forward.
If you’re poetry-curious but not ready for a full collection
Read one novel first, then try Gay Girl Prayers as a change of rhythm.
Frequently asked questions
Do the novels spoil each other?
Not in a plot-continuity way. You might notice recurring concerns and tonal shifts, but you won’t ruin a “series ending” by reading out of order.
Which book is the best single-book test of her fiction?
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is the most straightforward introduction to her style and comedic-dark perspective.
Are there confirmed upcoming titles after 2026?
I did not find a reliably confirmed next title in the sources checked, so I’m not listing one here.
Bottom line
For most readers, the smoothest route is novels in publication order (2021 → 2026), with Gay Girl Prayers treated as optional and separate.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.