ACQUISITION: Rights to No God Like the Mother

Forest Avenue Press will publish a new edition of Kesha Ajọsẹ-Fisher’s award-winning story collection, No God Like the Mother, with an expected release date of late fall or early winter. 

Kesha’s original publisher, Portland’s Inkwater Press, has closed its doors. Rights to the book, which won the coveted 2020 Ken Kesey Award for Fiction from Literary Arts, had reverted to the author. Kesha’s agent, Kate Garrick of the Salky Literary Management, negotiated on behalf of the author. 

No God Like the Mother follows characters in transition, through tribulation and hope. Set around the world–the bustling streets of Lagos, the arid gardens beside the Red Sea, an apartment in Paris, the rain-washed suburbs of the Pacific Northwest–this collection of nine stories is a masterful exploration of life’s uncertainty. 

Forest Avenue published one of Ajọsẹ-Fisher’s stories, “Mr. Uncle’s Favor,” in the 2021 anthology Dispatches from Anarres: Tales in Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin, edited by Susan DeFreitas. 

“We’re so honored to bring Kesha’s remarkable collection back into print,” said publisher Laura Stanfill. “It’s an exciting first for Forest Avenue to issue a new edition of an existing work and help it reach a broader audience—and a very special way to celebrate our tenth anniversary of our press.” 

Kesha Ajọsẹ-Fisher was born in Chicago, raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and returned to the United States with her family in the early nineties. She won the 2020 Ken Kesey Prize through the Oregon Book Awards for her debut collection: No God Like the Mother. She is also an Oregon Literary Fellow and a relentless student of the human condition. Ajọsẹ-Fisher’s work has appeared in collections such as The Alchemy, The Phoenix, The Buckman Journal, and was recently anthologized in Dispatches from Anarres: Tales in Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin.

No God Like the Mother has been taught by Portland State University, Linfield University, Portland Community College, Pacific University MFA Program, Mt. Hood College, and Clark College. 

Ajọsẹ-Fisher holds writing workshops throughout the year and leads book clubs with a focus on using storytelling as a tool for healing and sharing. Much of her written work is guided by her childhood in Africa and America, and an unshakable urge to change the female experience in the world. As a former social worker for immigrant and refugee families, Ajọsẹ-Fisher now spends her days using her writing to advocate for social justice. She currently lives in Portland with her spouse, children and two perfect poodles named Oscar and Jojo. When not writing, she enjoys exploring the forests of the beautiful Pacific Northwest or recharging near an ocean.

Forest Avenue is distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West. The press was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2012. Reviewers and booksellers who would like to receive a review copy of the updated edition can email forestavenuepress (at) gmail (dot) com to be added to the media list.