Bolu Babalola

Bolu Babalola
Babalola in 2021
Babalola in 2021
Born (1991-02-24) 24 February 1991 (age 33)
Southwark, London, England
OccupationAuthor, journalist, screenwriter
Nationality
  • British
  • Nigerian
Alma mater

Bolu Babalola (born 24 February 1991)[1] is a British Nigerian author, screenwriter, and journalist.[2][3] Her debut anthology Love in Colour was published in 2020 and became a Sunday Times Bestseller. She appeared on the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 list for Media and Marketing in Europe.[4]

Early life

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Babalola was born in Guy's Hospital[5] in Southwark to Nigerian Yoruba parents and grew up in East London.[6][7] She attended Valentines High School in Ilford for sixth form.[8] She went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Reading in 2012 and later a Master of Arts in American Politics and History from University College London in 2018.[9][10][11][12]

Career

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Babalola began her career working as an assistant writer and producer for BBC Comedy, contributing to The Javone Prince Show and Tracey Ullman's Show. She pitched the Cecile Emeke web series Ackee & Saltfish, assistant producing the pilot episode.[13][14] As of August 2020, she was working on a television programme with Tiger Aspect.[15][2] She was shortlisted in 2016 for The Guardian and 4th Estate B4ME prize for her debut story, "Netflix and Chill".[16][7][17]

She has written for publications such as Vice, Vulture, GQ, Cosmopolitan, and Stylist.[18]

A television and film columnist for Dazed,[13] Babalola is a self-professed "Romcomoisseur". She named Insecure by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore, Brown Sugar, When Harry Met Sally, My Best Friend's Wedding, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Lovesick, and New Girl as her favourite romcoms. She praised Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You. She called the characters Ashley Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the titular character of the series Moesha, played by Brandy Norwood, important examples of "just dark skin black girls living".[15][2][19]

On September 10, 2021, the television show she wrote, executive produced and created, Big Age, premiered on Channel 4.

In 2018, Babalola sent a tweet with a photoshopped image of her and Michael B. Jordan, asking Twitter to help find her "holiday romance" as a joke.[15] The tweet went viral,[20][21][22][23] and was featured on Entertainment Tonight and The Steve Harvey Show. Jordan and Babalola later met when he was promoting a film in London. Babalola explained: "At the Q&A at the end, I stood up and said: "Hi, it's me, the love of your life." It was mortifying, but he was so lovely."[16]

A Twitter humourist, she has said that Twitter is an important space for building community, especially among Black women.[3]

Love in Colour

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Babalola's debut anthology, Love in Colour, was published in 2020 by Headline Publishing Group. The collection of short stories "remixes ancient love stories from Asia, Greece, and around Africa for a new audience", including pre-colonial Yoruba stories, Orisha traditions, and Ancient Soninke tales. She stated that she hopes the book is a "step towards decolonizing tropes of love".[24] Babalola changed many of the stories to make the female characters more empowered, and to demonstrate consent and love without suffering. She has said that its important to her to write about and for Black women,[2][3] stating: "you're used to seeing white women play [romantic archetypes]. They're fun girls, independent, they have their own minds and they have access to their own iteration of romance. Why don't we have that?"[15]

Love in Colour was featured on 13 November 2020 as "book of the week" of BBC2's book club programme Between the Covers, hosted by Sara Cox.[25][26][27][28] Fellow writers Candice Carty-Williams, David Nicholls, and Meg Cabot have praised Love in Colour, with Babalola saying "That's when it felt real... Meg Cabot who I adored growing up, who I still adore, loves the book… That's the moment when it sunk in."[29] The anthology has been translated into Dutch, German and Portuguese (Brazil).

Honey & Spice

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In August 2020, Babalola began teasing her next novel, "a collegiate rom-com set in an Afro-Caribbean Society in a UK university, where enemies become friends and eventually lovers".[15] In January 2021, it was announced she had signed a deal with Headline Review for Honey & Spice, as well as another untitled project.[30] William Morrow and Company acquired the North America rights.[31] Honey & Spice was published in summer 2022.[32]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • Honey & Spice (2022)
  • Sun Under Skin (2024)

Short story collections

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  • Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold (2020); released as Love in Color to US market in 2021.[33]

Short stories

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  • Netflix and Chill (2016)

References

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  1. ^ Bolu Babalola (7 September 2020). "@MrMad90 Full name is Boluwatito, lol". Retrieved 29 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b c d Morgan, Jessica. "In A World Of Black Suffering I Wrote About Black Love". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Mahale, Jenna (17 August 2020). "Bolu Babalola is redefining old-fashioned romance". i-D. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Bolu Babalola". Forbes. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  5. ^ Bolu Babalola (7 September 2020). "Haha well I was born in Guys Hospital though bred East for most of my life, so through a technicality..." Retrieved 29 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Baah, Nana (6 August 2020). "Bolu Babalola's 'Love in Colour' Turns Love Stories on Their Head". Vice. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b UK, Hush. "hush meets... Bolu Babalola". Hush UK. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Bolu Babalola". 10 July 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "An alternative perspective". Spark: The University of Reading's Student Newspaper: 37. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Bolu Babalola". Harper Collins. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Bolu Babalola". Blake Friedmann. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  12. ^ Goldsbrough, Susannah (30 October 2020). "Bolu Babalola interview: 'Stop telling black writers they're of the moment. This is my life'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 March 2021.(subscription required)
  13. ^ a b "Headline lands Babalola debut retelling love stories from mythology | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Bolu Babalola". Independent Talent. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d e Alemoru, Kemi (28 August 2020). "Bolu Babalola wants you to see black women love and be loved". gal-dem. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  16. ^ a b Iqbal, Nosheen (2 August 2020). "Bolu Babalola: 'It was mortifying meeting Michael B Jordan after my tweet about him went viral'". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. ^ Babalola, Bolu (14 October 2020). "Romance in the Era of Netflix and Chill". Medium. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Articles by Bolu Babalola". MuckRack. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Monocle Reads: Bolu Babalola, Meet the Writers - Radio". Monocle. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  20. ^ Dahir, Ikran (30 November 2018). "This Woman Shot Her Shot At Michael B. Jordan With An Edited Photo And It Kinda Worked". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  21. ^ Haysom, Sam (26 November 2018). "Badly photoshopped pic of Michael B Jordan goes viral for the best reason". Mashable. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Michael B Jordan meets fan behind viral Twitter joke about holiday romance". independent. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  23. ^ Shamsian, Jacob. "A woman went viral for photoshopping herself in to a picture with Michael B. Jordan, and then she actually met him in real life". Insider. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  24. ^ Net-A-Porter. "Bolu Babalola on Love In Colour, diversity & redefining romance". NET-A-PORTER. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  25. ^ Between the Covers - Series 1: Episode 6, retrieved 20 November 2020
  26. ^ "Between the Covers". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  27. ^ "BBC2's Between the Covers book choices unveiled | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  28. ^ "Between the Covers - A New BBC Two Series | Reading Agency". readingagency.org.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  29. ^ Crockett, Moya (21 August 2020). "Bolu Babalola interview: what the Love In Colour author loves". Stylist. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  30. ^ Broster, Alice (26 January 2021). "Love In Colour Author Bolu Babalola Has 2 New Novels Coming". Bustle. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  31. ^ Hackett, Tamsin (26 January 2021). "Headline Review acquires two from Babalola in 'whirlwind' pre-empt". The Bookseller. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  32. ^ Bidisha; Mamata, Bidisha (31 July 2022). "Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola review – playful campus romcom". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  33. ^ Cole, Alyssa (13 April 2021). "Bolu Babalola's Stories Reset the Idea of Who Sees and Who Is Seen". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
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