Lost luggage, 'dangerous' alleys and a surprise at Cork's Blarney stone... meet our Summer Soap writer

When you come to live in Cork from another country, you tend to view it through a different lens than its residents.

So says American post-graduate student, Abigail Johnson, who is the author of the second Summer Soap in The Echo, which starts its 12-episode run in the paper and online at EchoLive.ie on Monday.

Entitled Hop, Skip And Stumble, her story follows a college freshman from the U.S, called Natalie, as she adjusts to life in Cork and attending university.

Now in its ninth year, Summer Soap is a daily fictional serial run over 12 episodes, chosen from the submissions of students on UCC’s MA in creative writing programme.

Abigai, 24, says that her soap is semi-autobiographical.

“Natalie is a fictional character but some of her experiences come from my own adjustments into Cork city,” she said.

Just like Abigail, Natalie, who is studying finance at UCC, is seeing Cork for the first time. 

You see things that someone who has lived here for years may just perceive as normal.

Used to moving around because of her father’s job in the American air force, Abigail, who lived in Germany and Chile for several years as well as in various US locations, was keen to come to Ireland as it was one of the few European countries she hadn’t visited.

“My parents have been very supportive of sending their daughter to a foreign country,” she said.

“But they’re bound to be a little worried. I was told not to go down any alleys. I rolled my eyes at that.

“But, staying initially at the Imperial Hotel, I didn’t realise that Oliver Plunkett Street is pedestrianised. I thought the streets off it were alleys and I was very wary about them.

“I had a bit of a mishap which features in the soap. The airline I flew over on lost half of my baggage. I just had my winter wardrobe but it was very warm when I got here.”

In need of a toothbrush and toothpaste, Abigail couldn’t find the Centra store on Oliver Plunkett Street. 

“Google Maps kept trying to take me around Oliver Plunkett Street because it thought I was driving a car. I was walking around and I was nervous.

“Thankfully, there are three or four other Centras within walking distance of each other. I got what I needed in one of them.

I got my baggage back, but not until I had moved into my student accommodation.

Abigail’s soap follows Natalie’s exploration of the city, making friends, including a possible romantic relationship.

The story is not so much plot-driven as a character study, tracing Natalie’s development in a new environment.

“It’s her first time outside of her home in the U.S, and it’s also her first time in a university environment,” explained Abigail.

“Students, myself included, get used to a higher degree of independence in a new place. You have to make a lot of choices for yourself for the first time in your life.

“I have tried to make Natalie become a lot more comfortable and she expands her horizons a little bit. This is reflective of my experience.”

The first quarter of the story deals with Natalie adjusting to college life. Towards the latter half of the soap, she has done a bit of travelling and is becoming au fait with her new place of residence.

The character also partakes in that time-honoured tradition of visiting Americans, namely kissing the Blarney Stone. Abigail recalls her amusing story about the Blarney Stone.

“One of my mother’s friends had been to Ireland. She won a radio contest where the prize was going to see U2 in Dublin along with stopping at the Blarney Stone.

“The way my mother tells the story, it’s that you are hoisted onto the stone. That’s what I was expecting. But in fact you dangle over open air.

It was windy when I was there. No one told me what to really expect until I was there and it was too late to back out.

It was all grist to the mill for Abigail when she wrote her soap. Natalie is an adventurous character that, while a little nervous at first, is keen to broaden her horizons through living in Cork.

Abigail has certainly earned her travelling stripes. Attending Clemson University in South Carolina, she graduated with a BA in English. While she always wanted to be a writer, she is practical enough to realise that she will need a day job, initially at least.

“I’d like a job in publishing because being a writer isn’t the most stable of careers. But I want to tell stories, regardless of the medium. English is very flexible. It gives you skills that you can use regardless of what path you choose.

“Being able to communicate well is going to serve you in any career.”

While writing a book is an aspiration of Abigail, she says it always seemed more like a hobby than anything else.

“Of course I’d like to publish a book. Since doing the Masters, I have a wider understanding of what might help me along the road. I have a first draft of a novel from High School but that’s never going to see the light of day. I’m hoping that what I refer to as my thesis will be the start of my novel. I really feel I’m playing to my strengths.

“Granted, I’m relying on my imagination but now I have a foundation that I hadn’t had previously.”

Abigail says that the recently deceased Dr Eibhear Walsh, director of creative writing at UCC’s School of English, will be sorely missed. 

“I’ve had a wonderful time doing the MA course that he created. It has been a phenomenal opportunity.”

Pick up a copy of The Echo on Monday for part one of Abigail's Summer Soap.