Books, art & remembrance

Grief finds its way into books, art and music

For as long as people have lost children, they have written about them, painted them, sung to them and made things with their hands to hold them close. A poem, a picture book, a carved heart, a song played at a farewell: these are some of the oldest ways of carrying love that has nowhere else to go.

This page brings those works together for parents after pregnancy and baby loss. Seeing your own grief in someone else’s words or art can make it easier to recognise, to talk about, and to share with the people around you.

Share your work with usMeet the makers ↓
Collage of a paper butterfly over painted flowers and a soft photograph of pink blossoms
Why it matters

Many ways to remember

There is no single way to grieve, and no single way to remember. Some parents find words first. Others find them much later, or never, and remember through colour, music or something they can hold.

Books

Memoirs, poetry, guides for the first weeks, and picture books that help children understand why a baby is not coming home. Reading what someone else lived through can make your own experience feel less strange to you.

Art and keepsakes

A name painted in colour, a print for a sibling’s room, a casket or urn made by hand. Objects and images give a baby a visible place in the family and in the home.

Music and film

A song chosen for a farewell, a lullaby, a short film. Music often reaches feelings that words cannot, and returns them on the days when they are hardest to find.

Makers we feature

Made with care for families

The makers below create for families after baby loss. We feature their work because of the care that goes into it.

A heart-shaped wooden urn from Hart van Hout on a small stand, with a wooden star beside it
Handmade caskets & urns · Netherlands

Hart van Hout — Heart of Wood

Arnaldo Lopez

In 2007, Arnaldo Lopez lost his son Silvan in the 29th week of pregnancy. Unable to find something that felt right, he made a casket himself, shaped as a heart of wood. He soon realised he could offer the same to other parents.

Since 2010 he has made heart-shaped caskets and urns by hand from soft poplar wood, in sizes for babies at every stage of pregnancy and after birth, for burial or cremation. He also makes keepsakes and custom pieces.

CasketsUrnsKeepsakesCustom requests
Visit hartvanhout.nl
The name Maya hand-lettered in pink on a painted canvas with small flowersIllustrated SISTER stickers with a rainbow, clouds and a sun
Lettering & illustration

Viktorija Liau

Lettering artist and graphic designer

Viktorija creates hand-lettered names, illustrations, prints, cards and stickers in bold, joyful colour. A baby’s name painted on canvas gives it a place on the wall at home. A sticker that says Sister gives an older child something of their own to hold on to.

Name letteringPrints & cardsStickersFor siblings
Visit viktorijaliau.net
For authors, artists and makers

Share your work with MIMATIS

We are building a collection of books, art, music and keepsakes for families after pregnancy and baby loss, for parents in many countries and many languages. If you have created something for these families, we would like to see it.

What we welcome

  • Books for adults: memoir, poetry, practical guides
  • Books for partners, grandparents and friends
  • Picture books, comics and cartoons for children
  • Music, audio and short films
  • Art, keepsakes and handmade remembrance pieces
  • Work in any language, including translations

What we look for

  • Made with care for bereaved families
  • Honest and gentle, without blame or false promises
  • Accurate where it touches on health or medical care
  • Respectful of every kind of loss, at every stage of pregnancy

How to submit

  1. Write to us with the title, the creator’s name, the format, the language and, for children’s work, the age range.
  2. Add a short description, a link to where it can be found, and an image of the cover or the work.
  3. If you can, include a review copy or sample, digital or printed.
  4. We look at every submission and let you know whether we will feature it.

Send your submission to

contact@mimatis.org

Being featured on MIMATIS is free. We choose what we feature for the families we support, so we may not be able to include every submission. Creators keep all rights to their work.

Did something help you?

If a book, a song or a piece of art helped you after your loss, tell us about it. Your recommendation may help another parent find it.

contact@mimatis.org