‘I moved here to surf and write - and Cork is perfect for both’

A French writer visits Cork to work on a biography of an elderly local woman who has retired from a glorious culinary career in Paris.

That is the theme of this year’s Summer Soap, now in its 11th year, which runs over ten parts in The Echo, starting in print on Monday, July 6, and running until July 17. It will also appear daily online at EchoLive.ie

The story has been chosen from entries sent in by the students on the MA in creative writing programme at UCC.

Entitled The Lost Recipe, it was written by Emma Tirlot. Her protagonist Claire, the Gallic writer, is in Cork to write the life story of Margaret, who had a successful cookery career in the French capital.

During her time in Cork, Claire has a romance with a (fictional) UCC professor, and she begins a search for a long-lost recipe for currant buns that Margaret remembers from her youth.

Emma herself is French. She had fun writing the soap which combines mystery with romance.

However, the romantic subplot is not a big deal, more of a fleeting encounter between a UCC history professor and Claire.

What sparked this story was Emma’s curiosity about the history of Cork while she was studying at UCC.

“It’s the city I’ve been living in since September. The story came to me when I was researching the history of Cork,” explains Emma.

“I definitely wanted to write something light-hearted. I’m also bringing a little bit of my experience to the story with the French character. It’s through Claire’s eyes that the story is told. She is a cookery influencer. She has come to Cork to interview the elderly Margaret who was a renowned chef in Paris. She is not based on anyone real.”

Claire first meets the UCC professor when she hears that he might have some information about the currant bun recipe.

So immersed was the author in her writing project that she went to the trouble of trying out a number of recipes for currant buns, and will publish her favourite one as part of the last chapter of the soap.

Emma rather likes the currant buns that she has eaten in Cork cafés.

Margaret, who is in her eighties, is very cranky initially. “She doesn’t want a biography written about her. But the publishers were able to convince her to be interviewed by Claire. By the end of the project, Claire and Margaret have become good friends.

“The romantic element involving the professor is very light, just a fun element that I wanted to add to the story. It brings everything together for a satisfying ending.”

You could say that Emma is embarking on a satisfying career after the trauma of all her plans collapsing in America. She studied international development at Georgia Southern University, and interned in Washington DC for a year but was unable to secure a work visa when the internship came to an end.

“I thought I was going to get a job in the US and build a career there but it just didn’t happen,” says Emma.

She says that it is very hard to get a work visa for the U.S as a foreigner. While it was difficult enough during Joe Biden’s presidency when she was living there, it is even harder under Donald Trump.

“I have a lot of friends still living in New York. Most of them are from Latin America. They don’t feel comfortable in the U.S anymore,” says Emma.

“I’ve heard of stories of people being pulled over. It’s pretty scary. For the moment, I’m really glad to be here. I honestly never felt safer in a country than I do in Ireland.”

When Emma had to let go of her dreams of working for NGOs, she decamped to south-west France – to learn surfing and to work in an ice-cream shop. (Surfing is a passion that she now indulges in Garrettstown and Inch beach.)

While back in France, she met “an amazing lady who helps people to reorient themselves. She really helped me to figure out what I wanted to do. I realised I want to be a writer.

“When I was a child, my dream was to be an author. I’m basically fulfilling my childhood dream by going back to study, getting my Masters in creative writing.

“I fully intend to continue writing and make it my career. I had started working with non-profits but that sector is not an easy one to be in. It’s really hard to make an impact on a large scale.”

Emma, 27, chose UCC for her Masters as she wanted a place where she could both write and surf.

“Cork is perfect for that. I still want to surf all the time and do my writing.

“I really like Cork because it’s not too big and it’s easy to get to the sea. Housing is expensive compared to France but the salaries are a little bit better in Ireland.”

Emma is fluent in English and can also speak Spanish. She now writes in English rather than her native French.

“When I started writing as a teenager, I used to write in French. Over my time in the U.S, it just naturally evolved to write in English. I’m trying to work on the translation of my soap into French for my family.”

When Emma completes her Masters next year, she will return to France and may pursue a PhD in writing.

“It would afford me more time to just write and I’ve always been interested in teaching,” she says.

“I think a PhD would be a good way to see if I like teaching.

“It’s about giving myself options,” says Emma.