Sams was presented with the prize on 4th October by chair of judges Elizabeth Day at a ceremony at BBC Broadcasting House. The news was announced live on BBC Radio 4’s "Front Row". It’s only Blue that jumps. Jasmine and Stella stay standing. Blue’s body is in the air for whole minutes before the sea swallows her whole. Stella watches the white foam spit on the surface and waits. Sending nudes is empowering for the protagonist in your title story. How do young women navigate the line between empowerment and exploitation when sharing images of themselves? This story was included in your debut collection, Send Nudes. How did publishing earlier this year impact you as an author? Sams beat off competition from a shortlist including composer, performer and writer Kerry Andrew, professor of writing at Lancaster University and Betty Trask Award-winning novelist Jenn Ashworth, thriller writer Anna Bailey and short story writer and poet Vanessa Onwuemezi.

Stella finishes eating and gathers up the plates to take inside to wash. Something about having Frank around makes her a better daughter, and she can feel it happening. This seems to work the same for Claire too; since she married Frank, she remembers things like how much water Stella’s drunk that day.

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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. 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 SYKES Stories should reveal something to the reader by taking them into the depths of a character’s inner life, a place which said reader cannot access otherwise. Sams does this down to a T. Her stories are rich in narrative and reach peaks that warrant further exploration. Her short stories leave the reader pondering over their conclusions.

We loved the freshness and the spirit in the writing of ‘Blue 4eva’ – Saba Sams not only brilliantly captures the nuances of blended family dynamics, the jealousies and stresses, the efforts and the rejections, but she gives her young women credible and laudable agency and energy. We recognised them and laughed with them. We were delighted too, to discover that we had chosen a writer who has already, at 26, created such an exciting body of work that she has published her first short story collection. This award has always sought to reward excellence and dedication to the unique and challenging form of the short story and this year’s winner more than fulfils our ambition.” Di Speirs, Editor of Books at BBC Audio and judge of the Award since its launch. Send Nudes is the debut collection of short stories from a new voice in literary fiction. Saba Sams’ characters lead us through dingy nightclubs, dating apps, music festivals and their unconventional homes, and leave us reflecting on girlhood in all its complexity. The girls in these stories navigate their intense friendships, ambivalent mothers, uneasily blended families and, ultimately, their own bodies.

Stella turns and runs through the house. In her bedroom, Blue’s velour dress is a loop on the floor. On the dresser, the cherry stones have lost their shine. Stella crawls into bed, pulls her knees up beneath her chin, and waits.