Bolu Babalola: 'It was mortifying meeting Michael B Jordan after my tweet about him went viral'

The writer and romcomoisseur' on her debut short story collection, romcom chemistry, and her clinch with Michael B Jordan

Born and based in London, Bolu Babalola, 29, is a self-proclaimed romcomoisseur" and writer. She worked as an assistant producer at BBC Comedy and was shortlisted by the 4th Estate B4ME prize for her debut story, Netflix and Chill. Her first short story collection, Love in Colour, retellings of mythical tales from around the world, is out this month and comes heaped with praise from authors including Meg Cabot and Candice Carty-Williams.

Romcoms are a big part of your life and the inspiration for your book. Why?
I feel like love and romance are seen as innately feminine and therefore inherently inferior, which is a terrible misogynistic take. We need art to have hope, especially when the world is so full of bleakness, and romcoms do that. My stories will have happy endings, but that's also a perspective that can help shift the way you see things in real life. People think of love as a fluffy emotion, but it's not - it's steely and powerful and it can bring out courage in us. It's only dismissed, I think, by people who don't understand love and why it should be celebrated.