Carolyn Chute (born Carolyn Penny; June 14, 1947) is an American writer and political activist known for her connection to the rural, poor communities of western Maine. Rod Dreher, who wrote for The American Conservative, described Chute as "a Maine novelist and gun enthusiast who, along with her husband, lives a very different life in the rural areas of Maine." She has received the PEN New England Award.

Life and work

Chute's first and most famous book, The Beans of Egypt, Maine, was published in 1985 and later made into a 1994 film with the same name, directed by Jennifer Warren. Her next two books, Letourneau's Used Auto Parts (1988) and Merry Men (1994), are also set in the town of Egypt, Maine. The books in the Heart's Content series, including The School on Heart's Content Road (2008), Treat Us Like Dogs and We Will Become Wolves (2014), and The Recipe for Revolution (2020), are also set in this town.

Her 1999 novel, Snow Man, focuses on an underground militia movement. In recent years, Chute has spent more time studying and writing about this topic. She was the leader of a group called the Second Maine Militia and supports the Second Amendment. She keeps an AK-47 and a small cannon at her home in Maine. Chute also writes about class issues in the United States and publishes The Fringe, a monthly collection of political writing, stories, and commentary on current events. She once ran a humorous campaign for governor of Maine.

In 2008, she published The School on Heart's Content Road, which describes a polygamist community in Maine that becomes the subject of a national article. The book was originally planned as a novel over 2,000 pages long, later divided into a five-part series. This was followed by Treat Us Like Dogs and We Will Become Wolves (2014) and The Recipe for Revolution (2020).

Chute has held many jobs, including waitress, chicken factory worker, hospital floor cleaner, shoe factory worker, potato farm worker, tutor, canvasser, teacher, social worker, and school bus driver from the 1970s to the 1980s. She also worked as a part-time reporter for the Portland Evening Express in Maine from 1976 to 1981 and taught creative writing at the University of Southern Maine in 1985.

Chute is closely connected to the New England Literature Program, an alternative education program run by the University of Michigan's English department during spring term. Students in this program converted her 2008 novel, The School on Heart's Content Road, into an electronic format.

Chute was born in 1947 in Portland, Maine. She now lives in Parsonsfield, Maine, near the New Hampshire border, in a home without a telephone, computer, or fax machine, and with an outhouse instead of a working bathroom. She is married to Michael Chute, a local handyman who never learned to read. She has a daughter from a previous marriage, Joannah, three grandchildren, and three dogs.

Use of politics in fiction

Chute’s book Recipe for Revolution is considered her most politically focused novel. The main character, Guillaume (“Gordon”) St. Onge, is a large, strong man who feels deeply about helping others. This strong sense of care may be his greatest challenge, as the story is structured similarly to an ancient Greek tragedy. His kindness makes him angry and sad as a young man when he sees unfairness in American society and the growing control of corporations over people. He learns about these issues by reading many books about American history and politics. After inheriting a house in rural Maine and some valuable stocks, Gordon creates a community called “the Settlement.” He invites people from different backgrounds to live there, including poor relatives, family members of his first wife, and children affected by drug-related problems. Many women in the community become his wives, have children with him, and together they build a happy, self-sufficient village.

By the time the story begins, some of Gordon’s children are teenagers. A smart 15-year-old girl named Bri, who lives nearby and admires Gordon, writes the book Recipe for Revolution. Bri and other teenagers, mostly girls, form a group called the True Maine Militia. They act out Gordon’s anger toward corporate leaders who influence politics. Bri also draws attention from activists in Boston who support Gordon’s ideas about helping working-class Americans. Gordon agrees to speak at events and meetings in the Northeast, but he refuses to stop his connections with the militia, which began through a friendship with a Vietnam War veteran and continues because he believes people must unite against corporate power.

Gordon is a powerful and emotional speaker, and his rallies sometimes become chaotic. He and his followers believe people have the right to protect themselves. However, the media starts to criticize Gordon, calling him “the Prophet” and later “the mad Prophet.” This attention leads government agencies to closely watch the Settlement, proving Gordon’s belief that the American government is controlled by powerful forces. The story references philosopher Giorgio Agamben’s idea of a “permanent state of exception,” a situation where people live under constant threat or control.

Awards

First place in fiction writing was awarded by the Green Mountain Workshop in Johnson, Vermont, in 1977. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Thornton Wilder Fellowship.