A newly announced memoir by former Ann Arborite Whit Hill has the can't-miss title "Not About Madonna" — Madonna, of course, referring to the singer who was Hill's onetime college roommate at the University of Michigan.

Set for release Sept. 6, the book bears the subtitle "My Little Pre-Icon Roommate and Other Memoirs." A press release announcing the book explains, "But it is about art, motherhood, and life after her college roommate, Madonna."

Now living in Nashville, Hill — also known as Whitley Setrakian — was a prominent figure on the Ann Arbor arts scene for many years as a dancer/choreographer, writer (including for The Ann Arbor News), and, most recently, singer-songwriter. Leading the band Whit Hill and the Postcards, Hill moved to Nashville a few years back with her husband, well-known local musician Al Hill, but has returned each fall for the Nashbash music festival in Kerrytown.

The press release includes this excerpt from the book:

“In the fall of 1977, when I came to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to enter the dance program at the University of Michigan, I thought I knew a thing or two. I had acted professionally in New York City, my hometown. I had posed nude for art classes. ... I was a very modern girl. ... When I met Madonna Ciccone, my initial assessment, even as I watched her leg soaring into an effortless front extension, was that I had little to learn from any young whippersnapper from Michigan, safety-pinned earlobes or no. I felt no instant flush of warmth and trust the day we met, no recognition of a kindred spirit — in fact all I recall feeling was an almost seismic wariness. But somehow, a few days later, she was my roommate. ... I never knew what hit me.”

Whit Hill

The announcement describes the book as a "compelling, poignant—and very funny—memoir of her life, as reflected through the lens of her junior year at the University of Michigan—with her roommate Madonna. 'Not About Madonna' ... is also the story of the years that followed for Whit, a life of motherhood, dance, music, love, loss, change, and the bizarre experience of unwittingly becoming a semi-professional 'Madonna expert.' "As close as sisters (yet at times as distant as constellations), these college roommates shared not just a tiny room but experiences of looming adulthood, sexuality, affections, and hard work for their art. Madonna and Whit learned from each other, influenced each other, loved each other—then parted, taking off on their own individual roads." Hill has always been willing to talk about her former roommate, and recorded a song about her called "Maddie." The press release quotes her as saying of the book, "I just wanted to take the celebrity 'I-Knew-Her-When' schlock and make something beautiful out of it. Like finding a piece of plastic on the beach and incorporating it into a mosaic. I hope I've succeeded."

Watch AnnArbor.com for a full interview with Whit Hill.