"Across the collection, the clarity and feeling with which Morris writes about south Wales, and his broader commitment to using short fiction to examine a place and its people, put me in mind of James Joyce's landmark 1914 collection Dubliners." Financial Times "Open Up is truly a descent into an underworld, each story darker and more punishing than the last. After finishing this collection, I had two main conclusions. I no longer despair for the future of male fiction writing and I can't wait to read the novel Morris has in him." -- Literary Review "[Morris] articulates loneliness and the desire to feel connected to someone with great delicacy, subtly highlighting the early traumas that might make connection difficult [.] It's a fine study of young men not quite living their lives." The Guardian "If his first collection [was] the work of a master plumber, the second is that of a diviner [.] a tender, tragicomic delight.
" --Martin Doyle, The Irish Times "[T]his new volume is poignant, surprising and thoughtful [.] Morris's skill lies in how he's able to draw out the love and optimism and hope in the middle of all life's bullshit." -- BookMunch ".thrilling. rewarding. impressive. has the same probing intensity as his debut, but the stories feel risker, an author opening himself up to new forms and styles with a notable playfulness and ingenuity." --Sarah Gilmartin, The Irish Times "Open Up sits in the tradition of great Celtic storytelling.
The lyrical spareness of his prose elicits only the purest empathy, and there is a sense always that in each of the stories every detail, every image, has had to earn its place. 'Aberkariad' feels at once classic and thoroughly unique." --RTÉ Book of the Week ". a subtle collection, with each story as meticulously constructed as a Swiss watch; one story in particular, the seahorse-led tale of a single father and his boys, 'Aberkariad' is a standout not just of the collection, but [.] one of the greatest short stories I've ever read." --Barry Pierce, AnOther Magazine "An eclectic, dazzling collection [.] mind-bendingly wonderful." --Gary Raymond, BBC Radio Wales Arts Show "As the title implies this second collection of short stories constitutes the flowering of a talent.
It is a cause for celebration that a writer of such obvious promise has returned with a volume defined by ambition and vibrant imagination." --John Lavin, The Lonely Crowd "Brilliantly crafted. A completely original, at times agonizing, yet completely brilliant collection of short stories. Morris succeeds in creating moments of genuine emotional intensity for his characters, each at a crucial juncture in their own understanding of themselves, and the people and the world around them." --Jonathan Lee, Nation.Cymru.