The Members of the Valley Artisans’ Coop acknowledge that we exist on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people and honour their long history here.
We recognize that we all have a role to play in decolonizing, healing, and reconciliation and we value art as an expression of our common humanity.
Author
Tracy is a writer, equally interested in fiction and non-fiction works. Her most recently published book is a novel called Mr Isbister’s Marvellous Ride, a big-hearted and humourous story about navigating the rocky road of trust and friendship. Her current project, still in progress, is a story with some local Ottawa Valley flavour entitled The Birdman of Wylie Road, with publication expected soon.
With her sister, Kristen den Hartog, Tracy has co-authored two non-fiction books. The Occupied Garden was a Globe and Mail Top 100 selection, and is the story of her grandparents’ experiences in Nazi occupied Holland. The Cowkeeper’s Wish is a family memoir that spans 100 years and recounts a tale of poverty, war, heartbreak and love.
When she’s not writing or thinking about writing or planning her next writing project, Tracy likes to make things with her hands. Lately, she has taken on the challenge of manipulating socks, and the outcome is a motley assortment of sock monkeys.
Author
Kristen den Hartog's newest book, The Roosting Box, explores the lives of patients and staff at a military hospital in Toronto after the First World War. It was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award, whose jury called it a "heartbreaking and humane ... tapestry of lives lived." She is also the author of four highly acclaimed novels and, with her sister Tracy Kasaboski, two works of history-based non-fiction.
Her novel, And Me Among Them, was nominated for the Trillium Award, and deemed “a magical, wonderful novel like no other.”
She makes one-of-a-kind wood-block collages, often based on great writers of the past, and miniature storybooks she calls "Beatrix Potter for Grownups." Kristen was born and raised in Deep River, and lives in Lyndhurst and Toronto.