Prizes & Festivals

Prizes, Lists & Festivals

Fourteen prizes, eighty-four Best Books of the Year lists in a dozen countries, bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic, and more than one hundred international literary festivals in thirty-two countries.

Prizes, Awards & Fellowships

14 prizes across six countries

For Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island

  • On 40 "Best Books of the Year" lists. link
  • Prix Medicis Etranger, France, best foreign novel, 2010.
  • Premi Llibreter, Spain, best foreign novel, 2011.
  • Le Prix des Lecteurs de L’Express, France, 2010.
  • California Book Award, 2008.
  • Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, 2007.
  • Henfield/Transatlantic Review Award.
  • 1st place in Fish Stories Best Fiction Contest.
  • 1st prize winner of River City Writing Awards.
  • Prix du Marais (regional public library prize in France), 2011.
  • Le Prix des Lecteurs de la Maison du Livre de Rodez (local bookstore prize), 2010.
  • Le Prix de la Médiathèque de Saint-Genis-les-Ollières.

Listed

  • The Story Prize, longlisted 2008.
  • Two Pushcart Prize nominations.
  • 2nd place Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society Prize for the novel.

For Caribou Island

  • On 24 "Best Books of the Year" lists. link
  • Le Prix de la librairie Nouvelle de Voiron (local bookstore prize), 2011.

Finalist

  • Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize (The Center for Fiction, New York), 2011.
  • Prix du Roman Fnac, France, second place, 2011.
  • Le Prix Lire & Virgin, France, 2011.
  • Prix du Festival Lire en Poche de Gradignan, 2013.

Longlisted

  • International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2013.

For Last Day On Earth: A Portrait of the NIU School Shooter

  • AWP Nonfiction Award, 2009.
  • PEN CENTER USA 2012 Literary Awards finalist in Creative Nonfiction.
  • National Book Critics Circle 12 best small press books of 2011 (Rigoberto Gonzalez).

For Dirt

For Goat Mountain

For Bright Air Black

  • Longlisted, Grand Prix de Litterature Americaine 2017.

For Halibut On The Moon

For a short story, “It’s Not Yours”

  • The Sunday Times Short Story Award shortlist (final 5 out of 1,150), 2010.

Fellowships

  • Guggenheim fellow, 2011.
  • National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Writing fellow, 2008.
  • John L’Heureux fellow, Stanford University, 1995-96.
  • Wallace Stegner fellow, Stanford University, 1994-95.
  • George Bennet fellow, Philips Exeter Academy, offered but declined, 1994.

Best Books of the Year

84 lists in a dozen countries

For The Darkening Land

  • #4 Livres Hebdo, September 2023.

For Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island

For Caribou Island

  • Washington Post Notable Books of 2011. link
  • El Pais (Spain) Best Books of 2011.
  • National Post(Canada), Philip Marchand’s Top 10 Books of 2011.
  • New Zealand Listener Best Books of 2011.
  • Daily Mail (UK) 2011.
  • Anchorage Daily News, Arts picks for 2011.
  • Juneau Empire 2011. link
  • New York Times Editor's Choice 2011.
  • France Culture and Telerama 2011.
  • The Millions 2011.
  • Kobo's top eBooks 2011.
  • The Australian Books of the Year 2011.
  • Guardian, Your Books of the Year 2011. link
  • My Favorite Novels of 2011 (Ron Charles, Washington Post). link
  • Los Libreros Recomiendan (Spain) 2011.
  • Go Mag (Spain) 2011.
  • El Corte Ingles (Spain), Top 8 Novels of 2011.
  • Los Libreros Recomiendan (Spain) 2011.
  • Vogue UK Top 5 to watch in 2011.
  • The Times, Hottest Reads in 2011.
  • The Daily Beast, 2011's Most Anticipated Books.
  • Les Inrockuptibles (France) 2011.
  • Sudwestrundfunk Bestenliste (Germany) June 2012.
  • #1 Books to look out for in 2011 [#1 Books to look out for in 2011, Australian Literary Review.], Australian Literary Review.

For Last Day On Earth: A Portrait of the NIU School Shooter

For Dirt

For Goat Mountain

For Aquarium

Bestseller Lists

US, France, Spain, UK & beyond

For Legend of a Suicide/Sukkwan Island

  • Livres Hebdo/IPSOS #9, 2010, also paperback list 2011, and #20 for the year in 2010.
  • Fnac (Spain) #2, 2011.
  • L’Express #7, 2010.
  • Amazon.fr #3 in all books, 2010.
  • Fnac (France) #7 in all books, #3 in fiction, 2010.
  • Datalib (France) #5, 2010.
  • Le Point, 2010.
  • Le Nouvel Observateur #16, 2010.
  • Foyles (UK) paperback fiction #8, 2010.
  • Ireland e-book #7, August 2010.

For Caribou Island

  • Denver Post #4, 2011.
  • San Francisco Chronicle #10, 2011.
  • NCIBA #10, 2011.
  • Livres Hebdo/IPSOS, 2011.
  • L’Express 2011.
  • Amazon.fr 2011.
  • Fnac (France) 2011.
  • Datalib (France) 2011.

For Dirt

  • Livres Hebdo/IPSOS  2013
  • Datalib.net 2013

For A Mile Down

  • Washington Post #4, 2005.
  • Los Angeles Times #7, 2005.

International Literary Festivals

A selection from more than 100 festivals in 32 countries
  • 2022 book launch in Poland online
  • 2021 tour in person in France, in July, including festivals.
  • 2020 tours were mostly cancelled but some held online, such as Auckland Literary Festival and in France, Hong Kong, Poland.
  • Tata Literature Live festival, Bombay, India, November 13-18, 2019
  • Belgrade Book Fair, Serbia, October 25-28, 2019
  • Sydney Book Festival, Australia, first week of May, 2019
  • Los Angeles Times Book Festival, April 13-14, 2019
  • PassaPorta festival, Brussels, Belgium, March 29-30, 2019
  • Conrad Festival, Krakow, Poland, October 26-30, 2018
  • Greenwich Classics Festival, October 5-7, 2018
  • Festival Oh les beaux jours ! – Marseille, France, May 27, 2018
  • Festival Étonnants Voyageurs, St Malo, France, May 18-21, 2018
  • Salon polar Saint Laurent du Var, France, April 28-29, 2018
  • Fête du Livre d’Hyères, France April 20-22, 2018
  • Bookfair « Noir sur la ville » – Lamballe, November 17-20, 2017
  • Brive Bookfair, France, November 10-12, 2017
  • Festival Un Aller-Retour dans le Noir – Pau, France, September 29-October 1, 2017
  • Festival Libri Mondi – Bastia, Corsica, September 23-26, 2017
  • Honorary President, festival Livres dans la Boucle, Besancon, France, September 12-18, 2017
  • International Literary Festival Sprachsalz, Austria, September 7-11, 2017
  • Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scotland, August 2017
  • Quais du Polar, Lyon, France, March 31-April 2, 2017
  • Festival Sans Nom, Mulhouse, France, October 16, 2016
  • Festival Lire en Poche, Gradignan and Bordeaux, France, October 7-9, 2016
  • Seoul International Writers’ Festival, South Korea, Sept 24-Oct 2, 2016
  • Festival Lettres du Monde, Bordeaux, France, November 27-29, 2015
  • Crossing Border Festival, Netherlands, November 13-14, 2015
  • Brainwash Festival, Netherlands, November 2015
  • Byron Bay Writers Festival, Australia, August 7-9, 2015
  • Oxford Conference for the Book, Oxford, Mississippi, March 27, 2015
  • Lit Quake, San Francisco, March 23, 2015
  • Harbourfront Reading Series, Toronto, March 12, 2015
  • Prose Readings, National Library, Riga, Latvia, Dec 5-6, 2014
  • Livres en tete, Sorbonne, Paris, France, November 28, 2014
  • Radio France festival, Paris, France, Nov 28-29, 2014
  • University of East Anglia Lit Festival, Norwich, England, Nov 18, 2014
  • Ordkalotten Litteraturfestival, Tromso, Norway, October 3-5, 2014
  • Besancon Literary Festival, France, September 20-21, 2014
  • Festival America, Vincennes, France, September 13-14, 2014
  • Berlin International Literary Festival, September 12, 2014
  • Festival of the European Short Story, Croatia (Zagreb and Sibenik), June 3-7, 2014
  • International lit festivals in China (Beijing, Chengdu, Ningbo, Shanghai), March 2014
  • Adelaide Writers Festival, Australia, March 1-5, 2014
  • Perth Writers Festival, Australia, Feb 20-24, 2014
  • Lasi International Festival of Literature and Translation (Romania), October 25-27, 2013
  • St. Etienne (France), Oct 18-20, 2013
  • Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (Ubud, Bali), Oct 11-15, 2013
  • Lire en Poche (Gradignan, France), Oct 4-6, 2013
  • Besancon  Festival (Besancon, France), Sept 20-22, 2013
  • Read My World festival, Amsterdam (Netherlands), September 14, 2013
  • Morges (Switzerland), Sept 7-8, 2013
  • Namur, Belgium (festival), Aug 31-Sept 1, 2013
  • Lowlands Festival, Netherlands, August 18, 2013
  • La Milanesiana Festival (Milan, Italy), July 2013
  • Polar-Frontignan Festival Intl du Roman Noir (Frontignan, France), June 29-30, 2013
  • International Forum on the Novel, Villa Gillet (Lyon, France), May 28-June 3, 2013
  • Etonnants Voyageurs Festival (Saint-Malo, France), May 18-20, 2013
  • Escapades Littéraires Festival, (Draguignan, France), May 2-5, 2013
  • Literature Festival Cologne (Koln, Germany), March 7, 2013
  • Courmayeur Noir Festival (Courmayeur, Italy), Dec 11-14, 2012
  • Scottish Book Week (Glasgow, Scotland), Nov 27, 2012
  • Crossing Border Festival (Netherlands and Belgium), Nov 16-18, 2012
  • Nautical Archaeology Society Annual Conference (Portsmouth, England), November 3, 2012
  • Warwick Words festival (Coventry, England), October 6, 2012
  • Brisbane Writers' Festival (Brisbane, Australia), Sept 5-10, 2012
  • Melbourne Writer’s Festival (Melbourne, Australia), August 31-Sept 2, 2012
  • Louisiana Literature Festival (Copenhagen, Denmark), August 24-26, 2012
  • Edinburgh International Book Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland), August 2012
  • Hay on Wye Festival (Hay on Wye, Wales), June 2012
  • Lillehammer Literature Festival (Lillehammer, Norway), May 29-June 3, 2012
  • Etonnants Voyageurs Festival (Saint-Malo, France), May 26-28, 2012
  • Los Angeles Times Book Festival (Los Angeles, USA), April 21-22, 2012
  • Saint Amour (Brussels, Belgium), Feb 10-19, 2012
  • Taipei Book Festival (Taipei, Taiwan), Feb 2012
  • Cheltenham Literature Festival (Cheltenham, England), Oct 2011
  • Wigtown Book Festival (Wigtown, Scotland), Oct 2011
  • Hay Festival, Segovia (Segovia, Spain), Sept 2011
  • Strasbourg Bibliotheques Ideales (Strasbourg, France), Sept 2011
  • Le Livre sur la Place (Nancy, France), Sept 2011
  • Leve Suicide and Literature Symposium (Oslo, Norway), Sept 2011
  • Bjørnson Festival of International Literature (Molde, Norway), Sept 1, 2011
  • Edinburgh International Book Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland), August 2011
  • Kilkenny Arts Festival (Kilkenny, Ireland), August 2011
  • La Milanesiana Festival (Milan, Italy), July 2011
  • Festival International du Roman Noir (Frontignan, France), June 2011
  • Etonnants Voyageurs (Saint-Malo, France), June 2011
  • Hay on Wye Festival  (Hay on Wye, Wales), June 4, 2011
  • Auckland Writers’ Festival (Auckland, New Zealand), May 2011
  • Crossing Border Festival (The Hague, Netherlands) Nov 2010
  • Small Wonder Short Story Festival (Charleston, England), Sept 2010
  • Frank O’Connor Short Story Festival (Cork, Ireland), Sept 2010
  • Edinburgh International Book Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland), August 2010
  • Kilkenny Arts Festival (Kilkenny, Ireland), August 2010
  • Paris En Toute Lettres (Paris, France), June 2010
  • Festival La Comedie Du Livre (Montpellier, France), May 2010
  • Sydney Writers’ Festival (Sydney, Australia), May 2010
  • Oxford Literary Festival (Oxford, England), March 2010