The Millions, 20 UNDER 40, 2010

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, Fiction Finalist, 2007

New York Magazine, Critic’s Pick, 2007

Goethe Fellowship, Deutsches Haus, New York University, Berlin, 2007

Esquire Magazine, Best New American Writers, 2005

Barnard College, Judge for the Peter S. Prescott Prize, 2003

Ledig House, Rowohlt Fellow, 2000

Black Issues Book Review, Best Young Writers, 2000

Time Magazine, Notable First Novels, 1998

The MacDowell Colony, Colony Fellow, 1998

Breadloaf, Teaching Fellow, 1998

American Library Association, Notable Book of the Year, 1998