Alexis Marie Chute is the author of the multi award-winning memoir Expecting Sunshine: A Journey of Grief, Healing and Pregnancy After Loss (She Writes Press, 2017). Expecting Sunshine was a Kirkus Reviews’ Best Book of 2017 and an IndieReader Top 10 Best Reviewed Book of 2017. The memoir has been honored with distinctions including the Benjamin Franklin Book Award, Eric Hoffer Book Award, Royal Dragonfly Book Award, Best Book Award, IndieReader Discovery Award, Next Generation Indie Book Award, and a Canada Book Award.
Above the Star (SparkPress), her second book, was published June 5, 2018 (Spark Press). Above the Star is book one in the epic fantasy series called The 8th Island Trilogy (slated for release 2018, 2019 and 2010). Critics are calling Above the Star a “Must Read” and “A Wrinkle in Time meets The Princess Bride.” Bookstr included Above the Star the “2018’s Top 15 Unputdownable YA Reads.”
Chute is a distinguished writer, artist, photographer, and filmmaker. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Design from the University of Alberta, Canada, and studied at Media Design school in Auckland, New Zealand. She graduated valedictorian with her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, USA.
Chute has received over 40 noteworthy distinctions for her visual and literary work. For her decade-and-a-half effort as arts advocate, she was named the recipient of The John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts. She was also named an “Emerging Canadian Photographer” by Photo Life Magazine and an Avenue Magazine “Top 40 Under 40.” In 2018, she received a Horizon Award for distinguished graduates of the University of Alberta. Chute was featured in print and video as mother-expert in the pregnancy loss awareness campaign by Today’s Parent Magazine, which won first place at the 38th Annual National Magazine Awards for Best Editorial Package on the Web.
Chute was the 2012/2013 Artist in Residence at Harcourt House Artist Run Centre, where she began her ground breaking fine art photo and documentary series, “The Quiet Rebuild,” featuring volunteers from around the world. Her visual and literary work on the topic of resiliency has been exhibited and published internationally. Her bright-bold abstract paintings are represented at the AR&S Gallery at the Art Gallery of Alberta. Chute also curates the Canada-wide InFocus Photography Exhibition during Exposure Photography Festival. She is the Curator in Residence at the Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel.
Chute’s memoir is accompanied by the feature documentary film, also called Expecting Sunshine, which she directed-produced. The film won Audience Choice Best Film of 2018 at the Central Alberta Film Festival, where it was also shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature of 2018. Expecting Sunshine Documentary was also a semi-finalist in the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards, a finalist in the US Hollywood International Golden Film Award and the International Women’s Film Festival. The film began screening internationally during 2018 at venues such as the Arizona International Film Festival and the International Congress on Stillbirth, SIDS and Baby Survival in Glasgow, Scotland, for example. It continues to be shown around the world in 2019 and 2020, including the Nice Film Market, France, and beyond.
Chute’s writing has been published in TIME Motto, Scary Mommy, Womanista, Today’s Parent, PhotoEd Magazine, WestWord Magazine, Vie, Edmonton Woman Magazine, Flurt Magazine, Mind Body Green, The Good Men Project, Still Standing Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Smart Healthy Woman, and many others.
She is a highly-regarded inspirational speaker and teacher. She has presented on business, art, photography, writing, filmmaking, bereavement, and the healing capacities of creativity around the world.
When not in her art-photography-film studio, writing at her computer, or on a leg of her international tour, Chute loves to spend quality time with her family, read both fiction and memoirs, watch reality TV, paddleboard, and canoe. She is not a winter person but lives in the frosty city of Edmonton with her husband and their living children.
