Chattanooga Author Russell Helms Awarded FY27 IAF in Fiction

The Tennessee Arts Commission has awarded Russell Helms its fiscal year 2027 Individual Artist Fellowship in Fiction.

A writer and instructor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Helms writes in styles ranging from Southern gothic to horror to the surreal. Informed by his own struggles with mental health, his characters often face the dilemma of distinguishing between the real and the unreal, struggling with the idea of God and sanity.

His fellowship-winning submission, “The Color Orange,” explores the mundane details of a bankruptcy hearing and the lives of the petitioner, lawyer, and judge involved. Together, these characters navigate reality, and ultimately there is no real difference between the three, all following a path that leads to darkness. This certainly impressed our fellowship judge, who wrote, “I have never read anything quite like this! Truly off kilter and strange but also lucid and precise. It’s brilliant and original. Strange but also engaging and emotionally affecting as all three characters grapple across their own realities to try to connect.”

He plans to put the fellowship award to use promoting his work, some of which can be checked out at his website.