Beth Nguyen
@bethnguyen.bsky.social
Books: Owner of a Lonely Heart (Scribner); Stealing Buddha’s Dinner (Viking/Penguin); two novels. Guggenheim fellow. CW prof at UW-Madison
50 years ago today, April 29, my family left Saigon. Boat, refugee camps, resettlement in the US. This is my origin story, my family story, the story I keep telling, to understand it. I didn’t write an op-ed or essay for this anniversary. Instead, just thinking about how the past keeps changing us.
April 29, 2025 at 7:40 PM
50 years ago today, April 29, my family left Saigon. Boat, refugee camps, resettlement in the US. This is my origin story, my family story, the story I keep telling, to understand it. I didn’t write an op-ed or essay for this anniversary. Instead, just thinking about how the past keeps changing us.
Earlier today I quoted Prince to someone: “you can be the president / I’d rather be the pope.” Just realized today is also the ninth anniversary of his death. (He also sang, “I’d rather be so happy”) 😢💜
April 22, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Earlier today I quoted Prince to someone: “you can be the president / I’d rather be the pope.” Just realized today is also the ninth anniversary of his death. (He also sang, “I’d rather be so happy”) 😢💜
About to leave for the airport and the music in the hotel lobby is “we found love in a hopeless place” which feels so appropriate for AWP
March 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
About to leave for the airport and the music in the hotel lobby is “we found love in a hopeless place” which feels so appropriate for AWP
In LA for AWP and almost all the clothes I brought are for LA rather than for AWP. Because we are not in Kansas City anymore
March 25, 2025 at 8:40 PM
In LA for AWP and almost all the clothes I brought are for LA rather than for AWP. Because we are not in Kansas City anymore
Because AWP is next week, here’s a piece I wrote for the Writer’s Chronicle last fall about, well, hookups and hot times at the conference
writerschronicle.awpwriter.org/TWC/TWC/2024...
writerschronicle.awpwriter.org/TWC/TWC/2024...
Behind Closed Doors: On the Steamier Side of AWP (preview)
Beth Nguyen examines romances that began at the annual writing conference, including her own.
writerschronicle.awpwriter.org
March 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Because AWP is next week, here’s a piece I wrote for the Writer’s Chronicle last fall about, well, hookups and hot times at the conference
writerschronicle.awpwriter.org/TWC/TWC/2024...
writerschronicle.awpwriter.org/TWC/TWC/2024...
It is true: the U.S. government has disappeared a permanent resident because of his political activism. Yes, this is where we are.
March 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
It is true: the U.S. government has disappeared a permanent resident because of his political activism. Yes, this is where we are.
I have no cultural or religious connection to this day; I just love all kinds of doughnuts. These excellent paczki (and other pastries) are from Bloom bake shop in Madison WI
March 4, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I have no cultural or religious connection to this day; I just love all kinds of doughnuts. These excellent paczki (and other pastries) are from Bloom bake shop in Madison WI
On top of everything else, Love Is Blind S8 (Minneapolis) is so incredibly boring, I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed of these midwesterners
March 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
On top of everything else, Love Is Blind S8 (Minneapolis) is so incredibly boring, I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed of these midwesterners
When the school district sends a 9 pm email basically saying sorry fuckers, you were hoping for no school tomorrow but we are staying open! Yeah it’s gonna be -20 wind chill but our threshold is -25 so put on some extra clothes hahaha
February 18, 2025 at 4:35 AM
When the school district sends a 9 pm email basically saying sorry fuckers, you were hoping for no school tomorrow but we are staying open! Yeah it’s gonna be -20 wind chill but our threshold is -25 so put on some extra clothes hahaha
I stopped my social media break because of Love Is Blind S8. Minneapolis! Not that we have even escaped the pods yet, my god why do they have so many goblets
February 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I stopped my social media break because of Love Is Blind S8. Minneapolis! Not that we have even escaped the pods yet, my god why do they have so many goblets
Saw people saying the info in that article on Gaiman was horrific. That’s the word I kept seeing. Yet I read it anyway. Or tried. People were correct. Horrific abuse, assault. Sickening.
January 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Saw people saying the info in that article on Gaiman was horrific. That’s the word I kept seeing. Yet I read it anyway. Or tried. People were correct. Horrific abuse, assault. Sickening.
Oh I’m pleased that Ali Wong got a Golden Globe for her comedy special. I still laugh thinking about divorced mom energy and I don’t care how many brain cells you have, I don’t care if you pronounce hors d’oeuvres “whores devours”
January 6, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Oh I’m pleased that Ali Wong got a Golden Globe for her comedy special. I still laugh thinking about divorced mom energy and I don’t care how many brain cells you have, I don’t care if you pronounce hors d’oeuvres “whores devours”
Saw Babygirl recently without reading anything about it ahead of time. Loved it. Was moved by it and by the complications. Appreciated how almost unnervingly average the guy is. Also, the music! “Never tear us apart” AND “Father figure”!
December 27, 2024 at 12:31 AM
Saw Babygirl recently without reading anything about it ahead of time. Loved it. Was moved by it and by the complications. Appreciated how almost unnervingly average the guy is. Also, the music! “Never tear us apart” AND “Father figure”!
I need a new dentist because my current one stopped accepting my insurance but mostly because they play the saddest most despair-inducing music and it’s become unbearable. Why, good dentist, why
December 12, 2024 at 9:53 PM
I need a new dentist because my current one stopped accepting my insurance but mostly because they play the saddest most despair-inducing music and it’s become unbearable. Why, good dentist, why
The time of year when I stress-bake and decorate cookies. Very soothing especially when alone and listening to choral music
December 3, 2024 at 8:48 PM
The time of year when I stress-bake and decorate cookies. Very soothing especially when alone and listening to choral music
I have to buy a refrigerator. French door style. I so dread doing this and am overwhelmed. Grateful for any recommendations
December 2, 2024 at 3:54 PM
I have to buy a refrigerator. French door style. I so dread doing this and am overwhelmed. Grateful for any recommendations
I was just in New Orleans and tried as many beignets as possible because I love them so much, and every single one is different re texture, rise, chew, shape. Going to do a bunch of research and make these at home soon
November 29, 2024 at 8:33 PM
I was just in New Orleans and tried as many beignets as possible because I love them so much, and every single one is different re texture, rise, chew, shape. Going to do a bunch of research and make these at home soon
“To face unafraid the plans that we made” is the realest line of any holiday song ever
November 21, 2024 at 11:30 PM
“To face unafraid the plans that we made” is the realest line of any holiday song ever
He says “muse,” I only see the word “use”
November 21, 2024 at 4:29 AM
He says “muse,” I only see the word “use”
I was never a Cormac McCarthy fan and never will be. And in general I’m against the idea of viewing any writer or artist as some sort of preternatural legend
November 20, 2024 at 9:51 PM
I was never a Cormac McCarthy fan and never will be. And in general I’m against the idea of viewing any writer or artist as some sort of preternatural legend
Current read: Danzy Senna’s Colored Television which I got at Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City. My cat Lloyd approves
November 20, 2024 at 6:23 PM
Current read: Danzy Senna’s Colored Television which I got at Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City. My cat Lloyd approves
A wholesome thing I do with my kids is watch old seasons of The Amazing Race. We started because we’re into geography and travel; we also stay for some of the wild relationship dynamics. Lots of good talks during and after. Recommend
November 20, 2024 at 1:06 AM
A wholesome thing I do with my kids is watch old seasons of The Amazing Race. We started because we’re into geography and travel; we also stay for some of the wild relationship dynamics. Lots of good talks during and after. Recommend
Oh we’re posting unusual influences on our writing? One of my mine goes way back to 1987, Richard Peck’s Princess Ashley. I almost didn’t read it because of the title but it is moody and wistful and melancholy with a sharp sense of retrospective narration
November 19, 2024 at 11:58 PM
Oh we’re posting unusual influences on our writing? One of my mine goes way back to 1987, Richard Peck’s Princess Ashley. I almost didn’t read it because of the title but it is moody and wistful and melancholy with a sharp sense of retrospective narration
Once again comfort-watching original “Frasier” while doing skin care, dishes, laundry. Oh those days before the internet, even before rolling luggage. As the Crane boys would say, very droll
November 19, 2024 at 3:52 PM
Once again comfort-watching original “Frasier” while doing skin care, dishes, laundry. Oh those days before the internet, even before rolling luggage. As the Crane boys would say, very droll
Bought ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey at Literati books in Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago, on a dear pal’s recommendation. Just read it and omg yes. A short wondrous and wondering novel about space, time, interiority, the unsaid, the unknown. I love a book that makes its own rules
November 16, 2024 at 10:46 PM
Bought ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey at Literati books in Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago, on a dear pal’s recommendation. Just read it and omg yes. A short wondrous and wondering novel about space, time, interiority, the unsaid, the unknown. I love a book that makes its own rules