aquarius press

Award-Winning Books Since 1999

Literary / Academic / Business / Performing Arts / General Interest

Fall Poetry Competition Now Open

Aquarius Press/Willow Books is accepting submissions for the Fall Poetry Chapbook Competition. The prize is $500 (upon publication), 20 copies of the chapbook and distribution nationwide. A runner-up may be selected, with a prize of $250, 20 copies of the chapbook and the same level of marketing and distribution.

Submit up to 40 pages in standard format, 11 or 12-pt. font.

Submissions are open thru November 15, 2025.

The winner and finalist will be announced in December 2025.

The winning chapbook(s) will be published in 2026.

Submit on SUBMITTABLE

NEW!

Invincible: a memoir

Darryle Buchanan

$24.95

Order Here

Detroit Coach and Community Leader Releases Memoir

Author Discusses Decades of Mentoring Youth in Detroit

Detroit—Detroit area coach and community leader Darryle Buchanan is releasing a memoir of his life and work. Invincible begins with his humble beginnings in the Virginia Park neighborhood to his rise as one of the state’s leading coaches and service with the Michigan Association of School Boards’ Board of Directors (MASB). Buchanan shares his challenges of growing up poor in Detroit without a father but achieving greatness with mentors. He passes on his experiences and legacy in the book.

“This book just seemed to pour out of me,” Buchanan said. “Suddenly, I started writing down my memories, wisdom earned and reflections over the decades and it became a complete book.”

Buchanan served as boys varsity head basketball coach at Southfield Arts & Technology High School. He is a proud graduate of St. Martin de Porres High School in Detroit, where he attributes his development as a leader. He co-founded a non-profit organization, Transition Basketball of Michigan, using players’ love of athletics to inspire them to achieve success in other areas of their lives. As a result of participating in this program, many young men have received athletic and academic scholarships, networked with business and community leaders, and have been motivated to attain higher levels of academic and personal accomplishment.

Buchanan will be autographing copies of Invincible on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at Shops on Top in Detroit’s Eastern Market. He is available for interviews.

Event Info

Darryle Buchanan Memoir Signing

Saturday, September 20, 2025

7pm

Shops on Top (Eastern Market)

2362 Russell St, Detroit, MI 48207

Cash Bar and dinners for purchase

Dark River: A Novel of Suspense (2025)

Historical Fiction based on the true story of slavery in Detroit when the region was known as “New France.”

Order in Our Store: http://www.aquariuspress.MyShopify.com or on Amazon.com

Greed, lust, murder and a love that will outlive the river itself . . .

“Are you his forever? The river will tell.”

These chilling words will change Isabelle Fontaine’s destiny. A celebrated Canadian pianist in 1836, Isabelle inherits the historic Fontaine, the last French ribbon estate of the 1700s. Crossing the Detroit River to claim the house, she finds herself in a fight for her sanity. Isabelle learns that she bears an uncanny resemblance to Celeste, her great-grandmother. Ensnared by visions of a doomed love affair between Celeste and a man named Jacques, Isabelle relives the tragedy: Celeste was a captive of the sadistic Louis Fontaine, and some souls were damned as a result.

Bewildered, Isabelle outruns not only her past, but her future as well. On the eve of Detroit’s transformation into a world-class city, newcomer Isabelle learns she is a pawn in one of the greatest riverfront scandals in American history. Cornered at every turn, Isabelle is aided by two great men, the ambitious entrepreneur Douglas, and the bitter physician, Michael.

Isabelle’s heart must choose between them, but the ethereal Jacques, whose dark love calls from the river’s bottom, has already claimed her soul. As Isabelle struggles to survive, a century-old tragedy threatens to repeat itself. Jacques is coming for her. And he plans to take her home.

Willow Books Division

CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

Black Fire This Time, Volume 3 (2026)

The season is now open! Submit fiction, essays, poetry and drama for the new upcoming volume. Submit via Submittable.

The Bestselling Anthology

Black Fire This Time, Volume 2 (2024)

Aquarius Press/Willow Books

Dr. Derrick Harriell Editor. Introduction by Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy, 2021-2023 Louisiana Poet Laureate

979-8-9881655-8-3

358 pages

In this follow-up volume in the Black Fire This Time series, over 75 poets and writers come together on the ongoing theme of “Black is Beautiful, Black is Powerful, Black is Home.” Works ranging from poetry, fiction, essays and drama represent a wide range of black literature. This “continuum” of writing, as coined by Volume 1 editor Dr. Kim McMillon, brings together legends of the Black Arts era with contemporary writers in the tradition. This edition includes a hallmark work from the Black Arts era, We Own the Night by playwright and one of the last living legends Jimmy Garrett. Volume 2 of Black Fire This Time will educate and inspire the next generation.

Mac & Irene: A WWII Saga by Margot McMahon

A true story of love, perseverance and the saving power of art. Artist and WWII B-17 navigator Franklin “Mac” McMahon fights to survive captivity behind enemy lines to return home to Chicago and his sweetheart, Irene.

Mac survives the Stalag Luft III POW camp and returns home determined to make the world a better place with his art. McMahon will become an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning artist-reporter. He was the courtroom artist for the Emmett Till Trial and the infamous Chicago “Conspiracy” Trial of 1969/70. McMahon was also a Presidential and U.S. Space Program artist. Mac & Irene: A WWII Saga is the first in a trilogy on McMahon’s legendary life and legacy.

Order Today! AMAZON.COM

BOOK 2 in the Saga: IF TREES COULD TALK
If Trees Could Talk is a hybrid historical fiction/memoir that uncovers family secrets through the clues of Margot’s father’s paintings and her mother’s writings. “This is all they left to follow the breadcrumbs of their life story. The fear of losing my mother and her patterns had already happened, now Dad was ailing and I don’t know my grandparent’s names let alone where I came from. As I discover my Northern Irish Catholic roots, I realize my adventurous life has been a quest to understand my past.”–Margot McMahon

Book 3: RESIST! A Visual History of Protest

The final book in the McMahon family saga, the story behind many of Mac’s social justice illustrations after he returned home from WWII. Mac was an eyewitness to many of America’s most important moments. Pre-order today for the December 13 launch! AquariusPress.myShopify.com

Buy Now

Why I Am Like Tequila

Poetry

Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate

About Us

We have two subdivisions:

Willow Books (www.WillowLit.net) develops, publishes and promotes many of the nation’s top poets and writers of color.

AUXmedia is the “Next-Gen” platform for film, television and podcast productions.

www.AUXmedia.studio

Willow Books Division

I would like to hope that Raising King, my new collection of poems, might offer ways to reflect and act to create a more just America. –From the Author

ORDER Raising King today: Aquarius Press SHOPIFY

Aquarius Press Arts & Business Series

A new line of authors sharing insights and best practices for the public good.

From Jim Crow to CEO: The Willie E. Artis Story

The amazing true story by Willie E. Artis, Flint industrialist, governmental business advisor and friend of blues icon B.B. King.

CONGRATS to Willie E. Artis, Winner, Michigan Business & Professional Association Awards!

PODCASTS

Detroit Stories: A Motor City Podcast

Hosted by Heather Buchanan

Featuring stories about the city of Detroit by those who know and love it best. True stories, short fiction, dramatic readings and so much more, all for your listening pleasure each week. And of course, there is no Detroit without a good Motown story or two.

Tune in, sit back and enjoy every week as we reminisce—and dream—about the future of Detroit.

AUXmedia Broadcasts YouTube Channel

AUDIOBOOKS

Detroit (Maiden Energy) by Carolyn Striho

Nominated for nearly sixty Detroit Music Awards in recent years, Carolyn Striho is a two-time Outstanding Rock/Pop Songwriter of the Year winner. Other big award wins include Outstanding Americana Album of the Year 2014 for Word Attack and Outstanding Rock/Pop Album of the Year for Honesty. Besides her infamously charismatic live shows at many festivals, clubs, and art galleries in the Midwest and Canada, she has five tours of Europe under her belt, as well as a two-month stretch in Japan, opened for Steve Earle in England, and has performed in Detroit, Toronto and London with Patti Smith. Carolyn is best known for her new music and catchy, magically intense live shows and songwriting. Her live performances with her latest band, her legendary shows and writing fronting the well-known Detroit Energy Asylum band, with Patti Smith, and her punk/art rock years with Rough Cut and the Cubes, as well as performing with Don Was and the Was Not Was Band, Iggy Pop, the Ramones and the Slits.

http://www.CarolynStriho.com

Willow Books proudly launched the double-feature debut of Sokunthary Svay (New York) and Sahar Mustafah (Chicago)!

Congrats to our recent honorees at the Smithsonian!

Lucinda Roy, Bestselling Novelist and Willow Books Poet

The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller

Literary Activist, Fullbright Fellow & Washington, DC Hall of Famer

The Writers@The Carr Residency Program

Global Reach

To date, Aquarius Press titles have been presented in far-reaching locales, including Manila, Philippines and Rwanda, Africa.

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Recent Aquarius Press Releases

All That Glitters: The Ava Cherry Story (2022)

Ava Cherry and Lisa Torem

January 25, 2022

978-1-7379876-6-6

256 pages

SHOPIFY

At long last…Ava Cherry tells her story.

Ava Cherry first emerged in the music industry as a background vocalist for David Bowie. She appeared in his historic 1980 Floor Show and sang back-up with Luther Vandross and Robin Clark on his Young Americans (1975) album. Signing with RSO/Curtom Records, Ava Cherry released her first solo album in 1980, Ripe!!! With production by Curtis Mayfield, Ripe!!! made the disco Top 10 and spawned the Top 40 R&B hit “Love Is Good News.” Renowned music industry executive Bobby Colomby signed Ava Cherry to Capitol Records in 1981 and paired the singer with producer Bob Esty, whose work with artists like Cher, Donna Summer, and Barbra Streisand made him one of the most in-demand producers in LA.

CONGRATS TO CAROLYN STRIHO for making the GRAMMYS FIRST BALLOT for her audio edition!

A Temple for Tomorrows by John Jeffire (2021)

Amazon.com

John Jeffire will release his upcoming collection, A Temple for Tomorrows (2021). John was Aquarius Press’ first “Living Detroit Series” poet and will be our final Detroit poet published after 22 years.

The Carr Center, Detroit, MI

Hustler. Rough beast. Teacher. Right out of the gate John Jeffire’s book shrieks. This puzzle is an homage of blood, family, war—shake downs, masques of shame, rotary phones, doing time. Its pieces are innumerable—chaos, surrender, soul, both penniless and proud; they are abandoned motels, saving face, steel and bone. They whisper Johnny Ace and a Wonder Woman. Detroit, America—eat your heart out. A Temple for Tomorrows kicks ass, takes names. At its core is an inimitable heart.
Jim Reese, author of Bone Chalk

Grover McCants, author of Dick Brown’s Cookbook

COMING 2023!

Dick Brown’s Kitchen, our first-ever lifestyle series!

Fun Fact: The Story behind the “Dick Brown” Persona

The cookbook’s title is named for McCants’ quasi-alter ego, Dick Brown. McCants received the name from one of the star players of the Bad Boys Pistons®. McCants recalls the humorous naming story within the cookbook.

More About Aquarius Press:

Aquarius Press, founded in 1999 in Detroit, publishes trade, academic, and special interest titles. Key partnerships have been formed with several universities, libraries, governmental agencies, and literary organizations. Several titles are included in numerous library collections, including the University of Michigan Special Collection, Poets House in New York, and the African Libraries Collective. The flagship imprint, Willow Books, was co-founded with Dr. Randall Horton in 2007 with a mission to develop, publish, and promote writers of color. In addition to publishing and providing professional development opportunities, Willow has created a platform for its authors to engage with the public through workshops, conferences, digital streaming broadcasts, and public readings in the U.S. and abroad. Signature events include the annual LitFest (Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Antonio, D.C. and New York) and its Literature Awards. The press has active roster of 50+ single-title authors and has published over 10 anthologies and journals containing the works of hundreds of poets and writers. An industry leader, the press is known for its excellence in design, content and development of award-winning authors and fellows.

COLLABORATIONS