Send Nudes: By the winner of the BBC National Short Story Award 2022

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The winner of 2022 BBC National Short Story Award was announced this week as London-based writer, Saba Sams. Following the announcement , we spoke to her about ‘Blue 4eva’– the winning story. Stella’s mother married Jasmine’s father in February. Stella was twelve, Jasmine was eighteen. For their honeymoon, Claire and Frank went to Costa Rica. Stella and Jasmine weren’t invited. When they returned home, Frank announced that he’d booked three weeks in a villa on the smallest island in the Balearics, to make up for it. Jasmine was over from her mother’s. Claire had baked a lemon drizzle. Many thanks to Bloomsbury UK and NetGalley for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.] Sams beat a shortlist dominated by the UK’s most original and imaginative writers, including composer, performer and writer, Kerry Andrew for ‘And The Moon Descends on the Temple That Was’; Professor of Writing at Lancaster University and Betty Trask Award winning novelist, Jenn Ashworth for ‘Flat 19’; thriller writer, Anna Bailey for ‘Long Way to Come For a Sip of Water’ and short story writer and poet, Vanessa Onwuemezi for ‘Green Afternoon’. This book shows the messiness but also empowering stories of different women: covering POV’s from young teens and women trying to navigate modern life. These were stories of mystery and intrigue, grief and humour. Some of the stories covered more serious topics than others. As an introspective collection of short stories, they really delve into the character’s emotions and thought processes/decisions and how these women take control.

In 2019, her story ‘Tinderloin’ was shortlisted for The White Review Short Story Prize. In 2018, her story ‘Overnight’ was published in The Stinging Fly, edited by Sally Rooney. Her writing has also appeared online in places such as Litro, The Manchester Review, Arcturus, Forge, Tangerine and Granta. a book that explores the chaos that can come of every day moments. sams emphasizes serious topics, but her humor doesn't let any of them get too heavy. we are never shown a character’s full story or full profile—they come to us in fragmentary glimpses. a diverse and poignant range of short stories about being a woman in today's society, in all its messiness and vulnerabilities. A roiling, raw, gut-punch of a debut collection, best read in one sitting ... I sat motionless for about half an hour after reading them; I can't wait to see what she writes next' PANDORA SYKESA seriously impressive debut. Saba Sams digs into the chaos, euphoria and menace of sexual attraction, friendship and family with bravery and wit. The balance her prose strikes between observation and empathy is remarkable, and its rhythms irresistible' CHRIS POWER Stella almost takes another spoonful, but changes her mind. Let’s save the rest for mum and Frank. I want them to try it.

I followed him onto the dancefloor and he put his hands on my hips as if he’d known me for at least an hour.’ The t-shirt is tight on Blue, but in a good way. It rides up to show a strip of stomach, her bellybutton as dark and perfect as the cherries she was eating.The next day, Stella wakes late. The sun filters through the wooden shutters. A mosquito, fat with her blood, swims lazily around the top of the net. There’s no air con in the house, so Stella spent the night thrashing about in the wet heat, re-angling the fan so that it was pointing at her face. The other shortlisted stories were And the Moon Descends on the Temple That Was by Kerry Andrew; Flat 19 by Jenn Ashworth; Long Way to Come for a Sip of Water by Anna Bailey; and Green Afternoon by Vanessa Onwuemezi. Each of the five shortlisted stories are available to listen to on BBC Sounds and have been published in an anthology. Talking about her story, Sams says: “It’s very special to have ‘Blue 4eva’ – a story I’ve been working on, in one way or another, since I was nineteen – be given this kind of esteem. I first wrote ‘Blue 4eva’ in rainy Manchester when I was a student, though it was very different then. The story was very short, more of a vignette, but I had fun with it. When I was writing Send Nudes a few years later, I returned to the story and started working on it again. I’m always thinking about what it looks like to be a young woman: about bodies and power, about friendships and family, about the ways we’re constantly looking to break free. ‘Blue 4eva’ engages with sexuality too, particularly with queerness, in a subtle way that I found interesting to write.” This opening story Tinderloin had me sure I was reading a gem - but by the fourth story I was reminded why I tend to steer clear of short story collections not highly recommended, the inconsistency of quality became incredibly irritating. The introspective writing focusing on a singular woman was where this collection was strongest; the voice authentically unhinged and witty as we explore that teetering between girlhood and womanhood, and the respective transformations that do not always occur in a linear fashion or in accordance with time.

Frank swims with his bag held above the surface. In her mind, Stella sees the water seeping into all the round outlines of the buttons, the ridges where the Dream Lens has been carved to fit, the film canisters sloshing aqua.Stella squats. It takes a while for the piss to come. She’s nervous with them both watching over her like that. Her aim isn’t particularly good, and she only manages to get a little bit on Jasmine’s sting. The rest splashes up around her ankles and across Jasmine’s shins. Jasmine squeezes her eyes shut and retches. The dress is made of velour in a muted gold colour. Stella puts it on in her bedroom, and Blue tightens the spaghetti straps by tying them in knots on Stella’s shoulders. On Blue, the dress would have been shin-length, but on Stella it trails the floor, and she has to lift it every time she takes a step. In “Snakebite” Meg falls into an intense relationship with Lara. Lara, motivated only by drink and sex, uses Meg for money, company and even simple bodily warmth. Every inch of us knows that Meg must rid herself of Lara, whose influence has ruined her university attendance, her relationship with her flatmates, and even her health, yet Meg clings on to Lara, because – we, too, understand – sometimes someone is better than no one. Also announced today was the winner of the BBC young writers’ award with Cambridge University, an award created to inspire and encourage the next generation of short story writers. The award was won by Elena Barham, 19, from Barnsley for a story set in the 1940s, Little Acorns. Were there any particular challenges with this story that you felt you had to overcome, or battle as a writer?