SARAH O’KEEFE

Writing & Literature

2023

In my portfolio Talk Them, I use my family’s personal experiences to tell a non-fiction story about our time living abroad, and some of the challenges we have faced regarding our son Charlie’s long-term illness. Charlie has Cystic Fibrosis. As a first-time mother I found it difficult at times, but have always tried to look at the positive. It is important for me to advocate for those that need an extra bit of help, and I believe that story telling can give us the voice to do so. Talk Them also includes a screenplay for animation about a fairy with a prosthetic wing who dreams of being a singer.

Excerpt from A la Carte: recipes, dogs, and techniques for making butterflies talk

I needed to up my entertaining game. My idol Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian was visiting Cayman for a culinary event. His latest cookbook Les Halles had recently been released, and I was dying to meet him. The event was being held at an expensive hotel resort, and I couldn’t afford to buy pricey tickets when we had this mortgage looming. Instead, I devised a plan where I would casually run into him at the airport, because I knew when he was travelling. I brought my Les Halles cookbook to the restaurant, so that I could ask him to sign it during our impending casual run-in. As predicted, Anthony Bourdain was at the airport getting ready to take the 5:10 flight, but he never came to the restaurant. Instead, he went to the departure lounge bar, and it was busy. I tried to make it through security flashing my airport staff pass but it was no use, I wasn’t getting in. In a last-minute attempt, I saw one of the servers at the bar, gave her the book and she got it autographed for me. My dream of meeting Anthony Bourdain, telling him that I loved cookbooks and travel, that I used to write and that he could come to our place for a dinner party, was not to be.