C O N N O R O'S H I E L#1
CONNOR O'SHIEL IS A WRITER AND SCREENWRITER WHOSE WORK MOVES BETWEEN NOVELS, SHORT FICTION AND FILM. HIS PROJECTS WORK FROM FRAGMENTS — LETTERS, INVENTORIES, TESTIMONIES — TO BUILD HISTORICAL NARRATIVES THAT REFUSE A SINGLE PROTAGONIST.
Read MoreBudapest, Hungary
February 3rd, 1984
A WRITING DAY
8AM — 8PM
BASED IN BUDAPEST, O'SHIEL 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. HE HAS WORKED WITH PRODUCTION TEAMS ON A SMALL NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT FILMS, PRIMARILY IN ADVISORY AND WRITING ROLES.
O'SHIEL KEEPS A STRUCTURED RESEARCH PROCESS, COMPILING REFERENCE DOCUMENTS FOR EACH PROJECT, THOUGH THESE ARE OFTEN INCOMPLETE OR INTENTIONALLY LEFT UNRESOLVED. HE IS 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. HE HAS COLLABORATED OCCASIONALLY WITH TRANSLATORS AND RESEARCHERS TO ACCESS MATERIAL ACROSS LANGUAGES, THOUGH HE DOES NOT POSITION HIS WORK AS ACADEMIC.
HE WORKS PRIMARILY FROM BUDAPEST, WITH PERIODS OF RESIDENCE IN BERLIN AND DUBLIN DURING DEVELOPMENT PHASES OF FILM PROJECTS. HE MAINTAINS NOTEBOOKS WHERE HE RECORDS DIVERGENCES BETWEEN SOURCES, OFTEN TREATING INCONSISTENCIES AS NARRATIVE MATERIAL RATHER THAN PROBLEMS TO RESOLVE.
A RECURRING COLLABORATOR IS HISTORIAN EMMA-JANE MACKINNON-LEE, WHOSE WORK ON CARIBBEAN SLAVERY AND HIGHLAND ESTATES PROVIDES SOURCE MATERIAL O'SHIEL HAS DRAWN ON FOR SEVERAL OF HIS LONGER PROJECTS. THEIR EXCHANGE IS NOT CO-AUTHORSHIP: SHE WORKS IN THE ARCHIVE; HE WORKS AT A DISTANCE FROM IT, USING IT AS PRESSURE RATHER THAN GROUND.
For correspondence regarding works in development, advisory on independent film projects, or research enquiries.