Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters

The first biography to be published about her in the United States, Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters will be released in September 2023

The University of Texas Press, Austin

Her forthcoming debut book, Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters (the University of Texas Press), is a narrative journey of reclamation that intricately details and humanizes the full life, musical contributions, and cultural impact of Willie Mae Thornton. Written from the heart, ear, and research of a DJ scholar, this mixtape approach to Willie Mae’s biography as one of the most prominent Black women musicians/songwriters in music history composes, archives, and threads together the known, the politically erased, and the intimately discovered pieces of her life and prominence.—Terisa Siagatonu