Courtney Thorsson teaches, studies, and writes about African American literature at the University of Oregon, where she is a Professor of English and a Faculty Fellow in the Clark Honors College. She is the author of Women’s Work: Nationalism and Contemporary African American Women's Novels and essays in Callaloo, African American Review, MELUS, Gastronomica, Contemporary Literature, Legacy, and Public Books.

Courtney’s most recent book, The Sisterhood: How A Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture, tells the story of a community of Black women writers and intellectuals who transformed political, literary, and academic cultures. Read reviews of The Sisterhood in The Nation, the Times Literary Supplement, Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, The Journal of American History, and Resources for Gender and Women's Studies: A Feminist Review.

The Sisterhood was on the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize 2024 long list for nonfiction, received Honorable Mention for the 2024 William Sanders Scarborough Prize from the Modern Language Association, was a 2025 Oregon Book Award finalist, and is a Literary Freedom Project One Book One Bronx selection for 2025.