[4] In 2000, House was chosen as one of the ten emerging talents in the south by the Millennial Gathering of Writers at Vanderbilt University.

It appeared briefly on the New York Times Best Seller list and became a word-of-mouth success throughout the Southern United States.

House published Something's Rising with creative nonfiction writer Jason Kyle Howard in March 2009.

The book was called "revelatory" by esteemed author and oral historian Studs Terkel, in his last blurb.

This special edition is illustrated by Arwen Donahue and includes the original song "Brennen's Ballad" by Sue Massek, which was the inspiration for the story.

[7] House's first book written for elementary-aged children, Same Sun Here, was co-written with Neela Vaswani and published in February 2012.

House's sixth novel, Southernmost, was published in June 2018 and was long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

The book was a SIBA bestseller and received wide acclaim, especially among other writers, including Dorothy Allison, Jennifer Haigh, Lee Smith, and Garth Greenwell.

The book received praise from authors such as Barbara Kingsolver, Billy O'Callaghan, Wiley Cash, Margaret Renkl, and Michelle Gallen.

In 2012, Berea College Laboratory Theatre presented his controversial play, This Is My Heart For You, about a small town divided by a gay rights discrimination case and hate crime.

The latter two plays were both subsequently staged at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

At LMU he also created and directed the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival and the Appalachian Reading Series.

He has written features on artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Lucinda Williams, Nickel Creek, Jason Isbell, and many others.

House is also an in-demand press kit writer for Nashville's music business, having written press kit biographies for artists including Kris Kristofferson, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, Lucinda Williams, Buddy Miller, S.G. Goodman, Del McCoury, and Lee Ann Womack.

He became involved in the issue after being invited on a tour of devastated mountains by environmentalist, author, and public intellectual Wendell Berry.

[11] House has been joined in this fight by other Kentucky writers, such as Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Maurice Manning.

[12] House was a 2024 finalist for a GRAMMY Award for his work as writer, producer, and creative director of the music video “In Your Love” by Tyler Childers.

This day is observed annually beginning in 2023 after a proclamation by the city council and Mayor Linda Gorton.

Nominees are collected by the Kentucky Arts Council, and reviewed by an independent panel with recommendations sent to the governor.