DESCRIPTION:
In ten dazzling stories, Saba Sams dives into the world of girlhood and immerses us in its contradictions and complexities: growing up too quickly, yet not quickly enough; taking possession of what one can, while being taken possession of; succumbing to societal pressure but also orchestrating that pressure. These young women are feral yet attentive, fierce yet vulnerable, exploited yet exploitative.
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. With striking wit, originality and tenderness, Send Nudes celebrates the small victories in a world that tries to claim each young woman as its own.
Saba Sams is a fiction writer based in London. Her stories have appeared in The Stinging Fly and The Tangerine. She was shortlisted for The White Review Short Story Prize in 2019.
Further reading
Read: Tinderloin, The White Review
Review: Send Nudes by Saba Sams review – sex and solitude, The Guardian
Prompt: Write about the last time you went on a date. What did you wear? Where did you go? Who did you meet? Try and sketch out as much as you can from memory. If this doesn’t generate enough material write about your first ever date instead. Aim for half a page.