FINDING YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE

What makes your writing sound like you?

Join Conch Shell International Film Fest (CSIFF26) for Finding Your Authentic Voice, an intimate, interactive two-hour online writing workshop led by Emmy®-nominated television writer, playwright, filmmaker, and educator Susan-Sojourna Collier.

Through guided writing exercises and creative prompts, participants will look inward and explore how personal history, culture, language, memory, and lived experience can become powerful sources for storytelling.

This workshop encourages writers to move beyond imitation and outside expectations, trust their own perspectives, and develop work that feels specific, honest, and uniquely their own.

WHAT YOU'LL EXPLORE

During this two-hour workshop, you'll:

• Explore the experiences and influences that have shaped your creative voice
• Use memory, culture, language, and lived experience as storytelling tools
• Participate in guided writing exercises and creative prompts
• Discover ways to make your writing more personal, specific, and distinctive
• Connect with other writers in an intimate online environment
• Leave with new material and tools you can continue using in your writing practice

Writers at all levels are welcome. Whether you write for film, television, theatre, poetry, fiction—or you're just beginning to explore your voice—this workshop is designed to help you discover the stories that only you can tell.

Choose Your Experience

LIVE WORKSHOP

📅 Thursday, September 17, 2026
⏰ 7:00–9:00 PM ET
🎟️ $40
👥 Only 8 live online workshop spots available

Your $40 Live Workshop ticket includes participation in the interactive online workshop plus on-demand access to the workshop recording through September 24, 2026.

CAN'T ATTEND LIVE?

Choose our Youtube only— $30 option.

Watch the workshop recording on your own schedule following the live event. On-demand access ends September 24, 2026.

There is no attendance limit for the on-demand option.

Reserve your spot today.

MEET SUSAN-SOJOURNA COLLIER

Susan-Sojourna Collier received an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series for All My Children and has written for several daytime dramas, including All My Children and One Life to Live.

She partnered with the late Tommy Ford (Martin, Harlem Nights) to produce two feature films distributed by Lionsgate/Grindstone: Conflict of Interest and Switching Lanes. Her screenplay Get the Show on the Road was a semifinalist in the Tribeca Screenwriting Festival.

An experienced educator and mentor, Susan-Sojourna has taught screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts, Syracuse University's Newhouse School, and Georgia State University and previously served as a Creative Writing and Film Professor at Abu Dhabi Women's College.

She is co-founder of the Mamie and Jimmie Collier Writing Fellowship and founder of Story Lab – The Writers' Room Project, a mentorship and storytelling initiative connecting New York City high school students experiencing housing insecurity with NYU Tisch writing student mentors.

She is currently an Assistant Arts Professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

ABOUT CSIFF26

Produced by Conch Shell Productions, Conch Shell International Film Fest celebrates Caribbean and Caribbean-diaspora voices and creates opportunities for filmmakers, writers, actors, and audiences to connect, learn, and build community.

Finding Your Authentic Voice is a CSIFF26 Pre-Fest Event leading up to Conch Shell International Film Fest, October 9–11, 2026, in New York City.