This Goodly Land

Helen Norris (June 22, 1916–present)

Other Names Used

• Helen Norris Bell: married name

Alabama Connections

• Montgomery, Montgomery County: childhood residence, adult residence
• Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County: education
• Birmingham, Jefferson County: adult residence
• Sylacauga, Talladega County: adult residence

Selected Works

• Norris, Helen. The Christmas Wife: Stories. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985.
• Norris, Helen. Water Into Wine. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988.
• Norris, Helen. Walk With the Sickle Moon. New York: Carol Pub. Group, 1989.
• Norris, Helen. The Burning Glass: Stories. Baton Rouge: University of Louisiana Press, 1992.
• Norris, Helen. Whatever Is Round. Carollton, Ga.: Curbow Publications, 1994.
• Norris, Helen. Rain Pulse. Montgomery: Timberline Press, 1997.
• Norris, Helen. One Day in the Life of a Born Again Loser, and Other Stories. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama, 2000.

Literary Awards

• Andrew Lytle Prize for Best Short Story, Sewanee Review, 1983, for "The Love Child"
• "The Love Child" included in Prize Stories 1984: The O. Henry Awards
• "The Quarry" included in Prize Stories 1985: The O. Henry Awards
• Andrew Lytle Prize for Best Short Story, Sewanee Review, 1987, for "Water Into Wine"
• "The Singing Wall" included in Prize Stories 1987: The O. Henry Awards, 1987
• "Raisin Faces" included in Prize Stories 1991: The O. Henry Awards
• "Raisin Faces" included in Pushcart Prize collection, 1991
• Poet Laureate of Alabama, recommended by the Alabama Writers' Conclave and designated by the State Legislature, 1999-2003
• Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer, 2000, Alabama Writers' Forum and Alabama Writers Symposium
• Alabama Author Award, Alabama Library Association, 2002, for One Day in the Life of a Born Again Loser, and Other Stories

Biographical Information

Helen Norris was born in Miami, Fla. When she was a toddler, her family moved to a large farm near Montgomery, Ala. The farm lacked electricity and telephone service, and the family entertained itself with literature. Norris began writing stories as a child. She attended the University of Alabama, graduating with an AB in 1938. Her mentor, Hudson Strode, arranged a graduate fellowship for her at UA on the condition that she write a novel. Norris received an MA in 1940, and her thesis was a draft of the novel, Something More Than Earth, which was published the same year. After graduation, Norris married and moved to Birmingham. The family later settled in Sylacauga, Ala., when Norris’s husband became an executive with Avondale Mills.

Norris stopped writing while she was raising her children but began again in the late 1950s, writing two novels during this time. One, For the Glory of God, was published in 1958, but the other, More Than Seven Watchmen, was not published until 1985. Norris’s marriage ended in divorce in 1965, and she spent a year in graduate study at Duke University. In 1966, she returned to Montgomery, where she taught English at Huntingdon College until her retirement in 1979. Norris began writing and publishing short stories again after her retirement. During this time, she held residencies at the Yaddo and MacDowell colonies. Several collections of Norris’s stories have been published, and two of her stories have been made into television films: The Christmas Wife, shown on HBO in 1988, and The Cracker Man, shown on PBS in 1999. Norris published two books of poetry in the 1990s and was appointed Poet Laureate for the State of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. Norris lives in Black Mountain, N.C.

Interests and Themes

In her fiction, Helen Norris describes ordinary people dealing with loneliness and longing for love and community.

For More Information

Please check your local library for these materials. If items are not available locally, your librarian can help you borrow them through the InterLibrary Loan program. Your librarian can also help you find other information about this author.

There may be more information available through the databases in the Alabama Virtual Library. If you are an Alabama citizen, AVL can be used at your public library or school library media center. You can also get a username and password from your librarian to use AVL at home.

Reference Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries

• Caton, Bill. "Helen Norris Bell: Where It Comes From"; Fighting Words: Words on Writing from 21 of the Heart of Dixie's Best Contemporary Authors. Montgomery: Black Belt Press, . 108-115.
• Norris, Helen. "Stalking an Early Life"; The Remembered Gate: Memoirs by Alabama Authors. Ed. Jay Lamar and Jeanie Thompson. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, . 80-95.
• Snell, Susan. "Helen Norris (1916- )"; Contemporary Fiction Writers of the South: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook. Ed. Joseph M. Flora and Robert Bain. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, . 333-341.

Photo by Robertson Photography; courtesy of the Alabama Writers' Forum.

Last updated on May 30, 2008.