On Thursday night at Das Gift in Neukölln, Berlin, a bunch of creatives came together to celebrate the first birthday of No Filter Zine, an indie creative nonfiction zine launched in Berlin by Alice Austin. To mark the anniversary of the launch, four writers read not-yet-published pieces, in keeping with the No Filter theme of brutally true stories.

I read a piece titled, Panic, about previous and ongoing issues with anxiety that have led to some pretty horrible panic attacks. What was amazing was that afterwards I chatted to a bunch of people who really got what I was talking about, which was the whole point of my essay. A lot of people have issues with anxiety and panic attacks, to varying degrees, and talking about it and knowing you’re not alone is super comforting.

Terri and Max, both new writers for No Filter, had the pub in uproarious laughter with their tales about a canal boat toilet incident, and a naked, drunken scene involving a bidet, respectively. Then Alice, editor at No Filter, read her story about her women’s football club, Tottenham Hotsnatch.

No Filter was founded on Alice’s dad’s birthday, so as well as celebrating the launch of No Filter, we were also remembering Alice’s dad. Her story touchingly portrayed how her football team was able to be there for her after her dad’s death.

The zine is rude and witty, eye-opening and brutally honest, and it gives a lot of people around the world, from Berlin, to the UK, to Australia, some good laughs. I love writing for No Filter because I can always be disgustingly candid, and never feel judged.

Check out No Filter over here, or chuck them a like on Facebook to get updated when they publish more outrageous content.