Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: the 21-year-old British student with a million-dollar book deal

"I was in my first year at university and I didn't have many friends because I don't drink as I'm Muslim, so I'd be in my room trying to figure out what to do. I was watching a lot of TV shows and I binged Gossip Girl in a few days," said Àbíké-Íyímídé, who is currently waiting for her term to start - remotely. "I loved it so much but I was really sad that there weren't many people who looked like me in it. I thought it'd be so cool if the shows I grew up with, like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, had more black people in them, so I started planning a story. I'd usually do uni during the day, then come home and write until 4am."