He is the author of two books of stories: We Don’t Know What We’re Doing (2015) and Open Up (2023), both published by Faber & Faber.

His awards include the Wales Book of the Year, The Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award, and a Somerset Maugham Award. In 2023, he was named as one of the 20 Best Young British Novelists by Granta magazine. His work has been shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize; and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the Sunday Times Short Story Award. His books have been chosen as a Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Observer, The Spectator, The Irish Times, and The Irish Independent. 

His stories have been published, anthologised, and broadcast in venues including: The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story; Best European Fiction; Zoetrope; Granta; BBC Radio 4; The Stinging Fly; and most recently in Italian translation in Il Rifugio dell'Ircocervo.

Editing, mentoring

For over a decade, Thomas worked as an editor at The Stinging Fly.

As an editor and mentor, Thomas has worked on stories and books by authors including Nicole Flattery, Rebecca Ivory, Michael Magee, and Chetna Maroo. More info about his mentoring here.

He devised and edited Dubliners 100 (Tramp Press), wherein 15 Irish authors wrote ‘cover versions’ of the stories from James Joyce’s Dubliners. The book won the Best Irish-published book at the Irish Book Awards.

More info about his editing here.

Teaching

Thomas has led workshops, talks and seminars at universities across Ireland and the UK, including University College Cork where he taught on the MA in Creative Writing. He has also delivered masterclasses and talks at festivals and for institutions and organisations such as The Irish Writers Centre, The Faber Academy, The Stinging Fly, and The Arvon Foundation.

Misc

Thomas was the 2022 Commissioned Writer for Temple Bar Gallery + Studios; he was on the selection panel for the 2021 Play It Forward Fellowship; and a judge for the 2017 Edge Hill Short Story Prize. He’s a former Welsh-league footballer; and in 2003, despite not knowing the rules, he competed at the Ultimate Frisbee Brit Open.

Titles

Open Up

We Don’t Know What We’re Doing

Dubliners 100 (editor)

Full publication list: here.

All the hype/praise: click here.