Open Up

A GRANTA BEST YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST 2023

The new collection from a literary star - five achingly tender, innovative and dazzling stories of (dis)connection.

From a child attending his first football match, buoyed by secret magic, and a wincingly humane portrait of adolescence, to the perplexity of grief and loss through the eyes of a seahorse, Thomas Morris seeks to find grace, hope and benevolence in the churning tumult of self-discovery.

Philosophically acute. Wincingly humane. Strikingly original. This outstanding suite of stories is bursting with a bracing emotional depth. Open Up cracks the heart as it expands the short story form.

Praise for We Don't Know What We're Doing:

'Heart-hurtingly acute, laugh-out-loud funny, and one of the most satisfying collections I've read for years.' - ALI SMITH, Guardian 'Books of the Year'

'Masterly. . . marvelous grace and wit.' - PHILIP HENSHER

'That tonic gift, the sense of truth - the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own'. The tonic comes in large doses in Thomas Morris's debut short-story collection.' - Irish Times

'Morris's fresh, direct writing style feels brand new.' - Metro

'Radiant' - Independent