In May 2015, New Directions published "Counternarratives," his collection of short fiction, including several novellas. In its review "Publishers Weekly" described the book as "suspenseful, thought provoking, mystical, and haunting...Keene's confident writing doesn't aim for easy description or evaluation; it approaches (and defies) literature on its own terms." In her May 2015 review of "Counternarratives" in "Harper's Magazine", Christine Smallwood said of Keene and the collection, ""Counternarratives" is an extraordinary work of literature. Keene is a dense, intricate, and magnificent writer." For this and earlier work, he received a 2016 Lannan Literary Award for Fiction. In August 2016, "Counternarratives" was awarded an American Book Award by the Before Columbus Foundation.