imaginary lake is a small press by poet Amy Bornman focused on publishing short works exploring themes of matrescence, art, care, and spirit.
projects
A Year Postpartum is a collection of very short essays by Amy Bornman. This 24-page print zine is printed and hand-assembled in Amy’s home studio. The zine chronicles Amy’s first year postpartum with her second baby in the form of short, poetic essays. These essays together become a deeply felt, raw, tender, and honest account of a mother's perspective one year past giving birth to a beloved second baby.
“Motherhood is the wildest terrain I've visited. Meadow bustling with life. It looks so peaceful from afar. This is a wilderness of hidden brutality. There are so many flowers.”
Zines are handmade, and may have small imperfections. Amy is the primary caregiver to two small children, so work is slow — please expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships. Zines are sent using USPS First Class Mail stamps and will not be trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $1.00 per zine to US addresses, and $2.00 per zine internationally.
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
“Motherhood as Giveness” is Zine #6 in the “A Year Postpartum” series.
If you are interested in purchasing this zine as a digital download, reach out to Amy at amybornman@gmail.com.
Objects: an Inventory is a print zine by Amy Bornman. The 24-page zine is personal essay, literary criticism, and meditation on the materiality of motherhood woven together into the pleasing “object” of a palm-sized little book. If you’ve ever thought about all the items you touch in a day and how they affect you, this zine is for you. And if you haven’t thought about that before — maybe it’s time?
“In a way, that’s how every part of my life as a mother has felt. My children taking claim over my body, my time, my living space. Taking out all my papers, all the artifacts of my history, and scattering them amongst the graham cracker crumbs.”
(Excerpt from Objects)
Also available as a digital download! (Here!)
Zines are handmade, and may have small imperfections. Amy is the primary caregiver to two small children, so work is slow — please expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships.
Zines are sent using USPS First Class Mail Stamps and are not trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $1.00 per zine to US addresses, and $1.50 per zine internationally. For bulk or consignment orders, please reach out to Amy at amybornman@gmail.com for an alternate shipping rate.
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
Objects: an Inventory is Zine #5 in the “A Year Postpartum” series.
Matrescence Reading List is a print zine of book recommendations by Amy Bornman. The 20-page zine recommends 57 books that fit under the ever-widening umbrella of “books about motherhood”, featuring a mini review for each title. It is printed and hand-assembled in Amy’s home studio.
“Throughout my life, I’ve always looked to books to help me understand my place in the universe, to help me find my way through big changes and shifts, and I’ve needed that more than ever as I’ve become a mother. These books have reassured me so many times — I’m not alone, I’m part of the world, I’m where I need to be.”
(Excerpt from Matrescence Reading List)
Also available as a digital download! (Here!)
Zines are handmade, and may have small imperfections. Amy is the primary caregiver to two small children, so work is slow — please expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships.
Zines will be sent using USPS First Class Mail Stamps and will not be trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $1.00 per zine to US addresses, and $1.50 per zine internationally.
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
Matrescence Reading List is Zine #4 in the “A Year Postpartum” series.
Ordinary Time: a Poetics of Exhaustion is a poetry chapbook by Amy Bornman. The 28-page chapbook contains eighteen new poems. It is printed and hand-assembled in Amy’s home studio. The poems were written from life in sequence during a three month period from October to December of 2023. They gently express a postpartum artist and mom-of-two’s commingled burn out and wonder, a two-strand cord endlessly coiling tighter.
the exhaustion rips at my mind, tugs
at my edges, runs me ragged. I’ll remember
these years as lovely and stale. I’ll
remember being tired and alive.
Also available as a digital download! (Here!)
Zines are handmade, and may have small imperfections. Amy is the primary caregiver to two small children, so work is slow — please expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships. Zines are sent using USPS First Class Mail stamps and will not be trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $1 per zine to US addresses, and $2 per zine internationally.
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
Ordinary Time is Zine #3 in the “A Year Postpartum” series.
Motherhood as Givenness: Postpartum Sentences is an essay zine by Amy Bornman. The 16-page illustrated zine is printed and hand-assembled in Amy’s home studio. The zine chronicles Amy’s first two months postpartum with her second baby in the form of sentences recorded in the notes app on her phone. The sentences together become a raw, poetic, and clear account of the many thoughts and feelings that may arise in tender weeks after birth.
“Little red round face, little red round mouth, little scream, little sleep breaths, little emergency inside my head.”
Also available as a digital download! (Here!)
Zines are handmade, and may have small imperfections. Amy is the primary caregiver to two small children, so work is slow — please expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships. Zines are sent using USPS First Class Mail stamps and will not be trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $1 per zine to US addresses, and $2 per zine internationally.
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
“Motherhood as Giveness” is Zine #2 in the “A Year Postpartum” series.
Birth Story: a pattern for writing is a workbook zine by Amy Bornman. The 12-page workbook is printed and hand-assembled in Amy’s home studio. Birth Story will guide you through the process of writing your own birth story in a way that feels complete using gentle prompts and a timeline structure.
What’s a pattern for writing? It’s like a sewing pattern, but instead of sewing a garment you are writing an essay. A writing pattern is a guide to help facilitate the process of sorting through complex experiences and thoughts to write one’s own story. The pattern provides structure in which the writer’s creativity can thrive, working to make a finished piece that is entirely original and complete. “Birth Story” is the first in a series of writing patterns that will be available from Imaginary Lake over time.
This workbook is also available as a digital download! (Here!)
Zines are handmade. Expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships (Amy is still postpartum!). Zines are sent using USPS First Class Mail stamps and will not be trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $1.00 per zine to US addresses, and $2.00 per zine internationally.
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
Second Birth: A Birth Story is an essay zine by Amy Bornman. The 28-page illustrated zine is printed and hand-assembled in Amy’s home studio. The essay recounts the birth of Amy’s second son in detail, and gently examines tender themes of matrescence, change, fear, power, and joy.
“Reminding myself to be thoughtless, notionless, maybe even hopeless. Hope for nothing except a healthy baby and intact self. Hope for nothing except pure change.”
Also available as a digital download! (Here!)
Zines are handmade. Expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships (Amy is still postpartum!). Zines are sent using USPS First Class Mail and are not trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $1 per zine to US addresses, and $2 per zine internationally.
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
“Second Birth” is Zine #1 in the “A Year Postpartum” series.
a cheerful palm-sized print zine featuring a small collection simple and personal resources for people who are near to giving birth.
zine includes:
favorite resources for birth prep,
birth affirmations,
finger labyrinth and breathing exercise,
a playlist,
and a benediction.
also available as a digital/printable zine here.
8 pages, 4.25x2.75” magic zine
compiled and published by Amy Bornman
imaginary lake press
Zines are handmade by a working artist-parent. Expect a lead time of up to a week before your order ships. Most zines will be sent using USPS First Class Mail and will not be trackable. If two weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Shipping is $0.50 per zine to US addresses, and $1.50 per zine internationally.
Get in touch if you are interested in a bulk or consignment order!
I’m Learning Waiting Like It’s a Skill: Observations from a First Pregnancy is a short essay collection by Amy Bornman. The essays were written during Amy’s first pregnancy (2020), and edited during Amy’s second pregnancy (2023). The 36-page zine is printed and hand-assembled with machine-stitched binding in Amy’s home studio. The essays were originally published on Amy’s blog — they have been edited for length, style, and clarity.
“I’m learning waiting like it’s a skill. I’m holding waiting like it’s something with mass and volume. I’m carrying waiting in a backpack up the hill. I’m trying to walk with waiting and it keeps stopping to lie down in the shady clover.”
Also available as a digital download! (Here!)
Zines are handmade. Expect a lead time of up to a week before your order ships. Most zines will be sent using USPS First Class Mail and will not be trackable. If two weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch!
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
New Feast: A Weaning Zine is an essay and poetry publication by Amy Bornman. This 12-page print zine is printed and hand-assembled in Amy’s home studio. This zine explores the tender threshold of weaning a child through a new essay, poetry, and hand-drawn illustrations. A zine about going before you’re ready, and letting new things grow.
“The milk is drying up, slowly. Goodbye to that love, the milk that was Ben’s. Goodbye to our dyad, our own particular pas de deux.”
Zines are handmade, and may have small imperfections. Amy is the primary caregiver to two small children, so work is slow — please expect a lead time of up to two weeks before your order ships.
Shipping is $1.00 per zine to US addresses, and $2.00 per zine internationally. Zines are sent using USPS First Class Mail stamps and will not be trackable. If three weeks have gone by and your order has not arrived, please get in touch and I’ll be happy to re-send your zine!
Written and edited by Amy Bornman
Designed and published by Amy Bornman, Imaginary Lake Press
Also available as a printable zine / digital download for just $5! — Find it here!