SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2024.SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK AWARD 2024.Local Fires sees debut writer Joshua Jones turn his acute focus to his birthplace of Llanelli, South Wales. Sardonic and melancholic, joyful and grieving, these multifaceted stories may be set in a small town, but they have reach far beyond their locality. From the inertiaof living in an ex-industrial working-class area, to gender, sexuality, toxic masculinity and neurodivergence, Jones has crafted a collection versatile in theme and observation, as the misadventures of the town's inhabitants threaten to spill over into an incendiary finale.Jones runs the Cardiff-based neurodivergent, queer-led community library and art/lit space, Dyddiau Du