Russ Williams was raised in the predominantly Welsh-speaking town of Caernarfon in North Wales. As a child he was a member of a Welsh national writing group called Sgwad Sgwennu. He graduated from University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (now Cardiff Metropolitan University) with a BA in Sociology & Popular Culture in 2010. He then spent two years in Australia, at one point securing an internship with the Herald Sun, Australia's biggest-selling newspaper. He now resides in Cardiff, where he continues to write.

 

Russ was a member of Roath Writers, a Cardiff-based writing group. In 2015, he published his first short story, Press 2 for English, which featured in the group's annual anthology. He also had two long-running blogs; Brawd Autistico and Where the Folk. His short piece, When Hats are Life, appeared in Helen Hughes’s Bearing Untold Stories: Life on (and off) the Autism Spectrum in 2023.

 

Where the Folk became his first traditionally published book in 2024, which was highlighted as Waterstones’ Welsh Book of the Month in August 2026. Since its release, Russ has been hosting talks, attending events and appearing on media to discuss various aspects of Welsh culture, including going to speak with the prisoners of HMP Berwyn in 2025.