Awards and Recognition for Isles of the Blind:

A 2010 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship

A 2008-2009 Black Mountain Institute Fellowship "for work ranging into international terrain."

A 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist in two categories: Literary Fiction and General Fiction.

Awards And REcognition for This Is Not Civilization:

A New York Times Paperback Row Selection

Maria Thomas Award for Best Peace Corps Novel

Alaska 2010 Book of the Year

A BookSense Summer 2005 Paperback Reading Pick

A Top 10 BookSense selection

A Borders Books Original Voices Selection

Shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize in Literature

A Publisher's Weekly First Fiction Selection

A TimeOut New York Emerging Voices Selection

A Miami Herald "Best Literary Offering of the Season"

A Tucson Public Library Southwest Book of the Year

A Powells Bookstore #1 Staff Pick of 2004

One of Library Journal's "Season's Most Successful Debuts"