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Writing Awards & Fellowships
- George Bennett Fellowship (fiction), Phillips Exeter Academy, 2021–22
- Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship (fiction), Finalist, 2021
- Miami Book Fair Emerging Writer Fellowship (fiction), Finalist, 2021
- AWP Community Scholarship, 2021
- NYC Emerging Writers Fellowship, Center for Fiction, 2018
- New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (fiction), 2015
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature Fellowship (fiction), 2014
- Tidal Basin Review Editorial Prize & Pushcart Prize nomination (fiction), 2010
- Africana Creative Nonfiction Award, Pan-African Literary Forum, 2008
- Illinois Arts Council Fellowship (creative nonfiction), 2008
- Transitions Abroad Narrative Travel Writing Contest, Second Place, 2007
- Guild Complex Nonfiction Reading Series Award, Finalist, 2006
- Travelers’ Tales Solas Award for Best Travel Writing, Honorable Mention, 2006
- Walker Foundation Scholarship (fiction), Fine Arts Work Center, 2006
- Zora Neale Hurston/Bessie Head Fiction Award, Chicago State University, 2004
- Douglas Turner Ward/Alice Childress Scriptwriting Award, Chicago State University, 2004
- Fulbright U.S. Student Fellowship (research), Ghana, West Africa, 2002–03
Fellowship Writing Residencies
- MacDowell, NH, 2019
- The Anderson Center, MN, 2019
- Dickinson House (Henry James Grant), Belgium, 2017
- Dickinson House (Raveel Grant), Belgium, 2015
- Hambidge Center (NEA Fellowship), GA, 2014
- Vermont Studio Center (Rona Jaffe Foundation Fellowship), VT, 2010
- Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, VA, 2008
- Hedgebrook, WA, 2007
Writing Workshops
- Kimbilio, novel workshop with David Haynes, ZZ Packer, & Dolen Perkins-Valdez, NM, 2013
- Pan African Literary Forum, creative nonfiction workshop with Faith Adiele, Ghana, 2008
- Pan African Literary Forum, fiction workshop with Arthur Flowers, Ghana, 2008
- Fine Arts Work Center, novel workshop with Elizabeth Strout, MA, 2006
- VONA, fiction workshop with Cristina Garcia, CA, 2006
- Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, novel workshop with Agymah Kamau, Washington, DC, 2002