Saba Sams has won the BBC national short story award for a tale described by the judges as having a “transportive atmosphere” and “masterful telling of complex family dynamics”. The 26-year-old has received the £15,000 prize, run by the BBC with Cambridge University, and the audio version of her winning story Blue 4eva is available to listen to on BBC Sounds.
Blue 4eva is taken from Sams’ debut collection, Send Nudes, and is about a newly blended family’s summer holiday. It was inspired by Sams’ memories of her own childhood holidays in Formentera, Spain, and focuses on 12-year-old Stella as she navigates the power play between her voyeuristic new stepfather, her 18-year-old stepsister Jasmine, and Jasmine’s best friend, Blue.
