Send Nudesis full of perceptive, raw accounts from girls growing into women everywhere – in clubs at closing time, on pub toilets, at free spirited music festivals and on make-do beach holidays. What ties the protagonists of each story together is a primal sense of what growing into yourself looks like – often chaotic, sometimes teetering on menacing, and yet always perfectly real. As they battle their own demons and others’ and as they fight for a space to fit into, they reveal some wonderfully incisive universal truths about womanhood. No, says Frank. You’re eighteen. Now down that pint. Down it. Something about having Frank around makes her a better daughter 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.

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’. How do you feel winning the BBC NSSA will shape you as a writer? Will it change your life, in any way, do you expect? In ‘The Bread’, my favourite story, a young woman survives the days after having an abortion by baking sourdough bread – the raw and painful episodes are interspersed by lovely descriptions around her kitchen, creating an unlikely equilibrium born from a scarring experience.

I particularly enjoyed that each of the stories were from an introspective point of view, (and I love this from Sally Rooney’s writing) so it was great to see this on a different piece of work from a different author. I loved seeing the thoughts of these women and getting a slice of their lives.

Saba Sams wins 17th BBC National Short Story Award for Debut Story Celebrating the Power and Agency of Youth

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Blue arrives then. She’s jogged down, and her breathing’s loud. I’ve always wanted to do a runner, she says. Blue pulls her legs out of the pool and stands up. Stella thinks that if she had a camera, she’d take a photograph of Blue right there, on the edge of the pool like that. Non mi aspettavo un libro del genere. Lo volevo leggere perché mi aveva colpito la copertina, e mi sono trovata davanti una fantastica raccolta di racconti brevi che mi ha lasciato senza parole. Were there any particular challenges with this story that you felt you had to overcome, or battle as a writer? 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.]

Jasmine blushes even more then. She has her eyes on her empty plate, and she looks to Stella like she might start to cry. Nico is smiling a little, amused. Everyone laughs at that, apart from Jasmine. Stella laughs so hard she nearly falls off her chair. When the laughter dies down, Jasmine’s looking right at her. Meg isn’t the only one having unenthusiastic sex. Two other girls in two different stories have sex they don’t enjoy, and in the course of the act they cannot find the words or the will to insist the man use a condom and apparently have never heard of hormonal bill control like the Pill, so they both inevitably fall pregnant. “I thought it made me seem aloof not to ask the boys I slept with to put a condom on.” Yeah, ok. The girls are so indistinguishable they tend to say things that any of them could have spoken. “The future, to me, was something that would just happen.” I wrote that one down in my notes, I can’t remember which story it’s from, truly could have been any of them.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,” Sams said. “Blue 4eva engages with sexuality, too, particularly with queerness, in a subtle way that I found interesting to write.” In another story titled ‘Blue 4eva’, three young girls are on vacation with their parents, enjoying the freedom and fun the trip affords them. As the days progress and tensions develop and relieve in different familial settings, each girl makes a choice seemingly without realising the weight it may carry over their holiday. Frank went quiet after that, and Blue wasn’t mentioned again all evening. By morning, Stella had forgotten all about her. By afternoon, here she was. At the villa, Stella sits on the veranda with the adults while Jasmine and Blue shower and get ready to go out. It’s almost like before Blue arrived: Claire leafing through a book, Frank loading a new film into his camera. He puts the previous canister carefully into his bag, and lets out a long, low whistle. A 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

Threading between clubs at closing time, pub toilets, drenched music festivals and beach holidays, these unforgettable short stories deftly chart the treacherous terrain of growing up – of intense friendships, of ambivalent mothers, of uneasily blended families, and of learning to truly live in your own body. The setting came first. I’ve been going to Formentera with my dad’s side of the family since I was tiny, and it’s a place that felt so rich with potential in terms of writing. It’s a very small island and a complex, perfectly-formed little world. 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 swings her leg over the moped, slots the key into the ignition, and slaps the empty part of the seat behind her. Hop on, she says. Let’s make this pussy roar.

I make the assumption that the stories are well received because they have drawn attention from a new, and different, reading demographic. I’m guessing that this would be predominantly young, and probably female……The protagonist in every single story is young, and female. In all these instances, while the outcomes aren’t always what one might hope for, they are the choices made and enforced by the protagonists, and so they are always worth it. At times I found some of the stories slightly odd, and was unable to connect at all with the characters. “Tinderloin” was an example of this, where the character seemed completely passive and distant to the reader. Maybe it could be due to the length of the stories, but some didn’t immerse me fully into the narrative. There are stories that stand out more than others, but each person who reads this will have their favourites. My own favourites were “Flying Kite” and “The Bread,” and I thought both these stories had more tenderness and emotion to them. I think this collection had a lot of promise, but some of the stories don’t hit the mark.