Mackinnon’s Estate, Antigua

Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee

Translator · Independent Researcher (Caribbean Estate Records)

Based in Florence, works as a freelance translator between Italian, English, and French, with a long-term focus on historical and archival material. Her translation work began in publishing houses in the early two thousands, initially handling literary texts and essays, before gradually specialising in non-fiction related to colonial trade, land ownership, and agricultural systems in the Caribbean.

Alongside her translation work, developed an independent line of research centred on plantation records, estate inventories, and correspondence between European landholders and Caribbean administrators. Most of her source material comes from digitised archives in Britain, France, and Italy, supplemented by occasional visits to collections where access is permitted.

Her workflow is divided between commissioned translation projects and self-directed research. Keeps parallel documents where she records variations in terminology across languages, especially where legal or agricultural terms do not translate cleanly. Has an ongoing interest in how ownership, labour, and land are described differently depending on the origin of the document.

Does not hold a formal academic post, but has contributed translations and annotated excerpts to small academic publications and independent research groups. Works primarily from Florence, with periodic travel to archival libraries in Paris and London. Maintains a personal index of estates and family names that recur across different archives, often noting discrepancies without attempting to resolve them fully.

Connor O'Shiel

Writer · Screenwriter (Historical Fiction)

Based in Budapest, works as a writer and screenwriter focused on historical fiction, with a recurring interest in colonial settings and narrative perspective. His early work in the late two thousands included short stories and scripts for independent film projects, before moving into longer-form writing, including novels and screenplays.

His projects often draw on archival material, but are not strictly historical reconstructions. Instead, he works with fragments: letters, inventories, testimonies, and secondary sources, building narratives that shift between documented fact and speculative reconstruction. Has worked with production teams on a small number of independent films, primarily in advisory and writing roles.

Keeps a structured research process, compiling reference documents for each project, though these are often incomplete or intentionally left unresolved. Known to revisit the same historical setting across different works, presenting it through varying perspectives rather than a single continuous narrative.

His writing tends to avoid central protagonists, focusing instead on multiple viewpoints, partial accounts, and overlapping timelines. Has collaborated occasionally with translators and researchers to access material across languages, though he does not position his work as academic.

Works primarily from Budapest, with periods of residence in Berlin and Dublin during development phases of film projects. Maintains notebooks where he records divergences between sources, often treating inconsistencies as narrative material rather than problems to resolve.