Coulson’s first novel, "The Vanishing Moon" (Archipelago Books, 2004), was a Barnes & Noble Great New Writers selection, and it won the Book of the Year Award, Gold Medal in Literary Fiction, from "ForeWord". Chronicling the lives of working-class people, "The Vanishing Moon" was a critical success, and Coulson’s prose, themes, and historical range drew comparisons with John Steinbeck, William Maxwell, and Russell Banks. His second novel, "Of Song and Water" (2007) was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award. Both novels earned wide distribution in French and German translations, and "The Vanishing Moon" was later published as a Harvest Book, the perennial literary series from Harcourt.