So what happens after a creative writing MA? For our self-styled ‘Writers Guild’ the key has been friendship. With strong bonds formed during our time at Sheffield Hallam University, seven MA graduates have continued to meet, share work in progress and offer each other invaluable feedback and encouragement. Some have been published, experimented with scriptwriting, or performed our own work, and have all kept going. The Writers Guild’s most recent collaboration – a prompt a week for a full year, 100 words apiece – has resulted in Flash Life, a curated compendium of creative non-fiction, or memoir. The chosen pieces reflect their different voices and range from encounters and obsessions, relationships and the body, to grapefruit and pies. Some are funny, some wistful, some disturbing, but all have their roots firmly in reality.