Beth Nguyen Explained

Beth Nguyen
Birth Name:	Bich Minh Nguyen
Birth Place:	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nationality:	American
Education:	University of Michigan (MFA)
Spouse:	Porter Shreve

Beth Minh Nguyen (born 1974) is an American novelist and nonfiction writer.^[1] She is the author of the novels Short Girls (2009), which won a 2010 American Book Award, and Pioneer Girl (2014). She has also written two memoirs, Stealing Buddha's Dinner (2008) and Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir (2023).

Life

Bich Minh Nguyen was born in 1974 in Saigon, which her family fled by ship the following year. After staying in refugee camps in Guam and at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas, they settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Nguyen grew up.^[2]

She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Fine Arts. In 2005, she received a PEN/Jerard Award for her 2008 memoir Stealing Buddha's Dinner.^[3] She taught at Purdue University and the University of San Francisco, and is currently a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she teaches fiction and creative non-fiction writing.^[4]

Nguyen changed her preferred name to "Beth" some time before 2021. She discussed the change in an essay in The New Yorker.^[5]

Nguyen married fellow novelist Porter Shreve in 2002.^[6] Nguyen stated she was divorced in 2023.^{[7] [8] [9]}

Works

• Book: Stealing Buddha's Dinner . Penguin. 2008. 978-0-14-311303-4 .
• Book: Short Girls: A Novel . Penguin. 2009. 978-0-670-02081-2 .
• Book: Pioneer Girl: A Novel . Penguin. 2014. 978-0-698-15137-6 .
• Book: Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir . Penguin. 2023. 978-1-982-19634-9 .

Anthologies

• Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=KVzEBNFl8l8C&q=Bich+Minh+Nguyen&pg=PA372. The Good Immigrant Student. Thin ice: coming of age in Grand Rapids . Reinder Van Til . Gordon L. Olson . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 2007 . 978-0-8028-2478-3 .
• Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=Fsn4P6hyH48C&q=Bich+Minh+Nguyen&pg=PA104. The Plum's Eye. Bread, Body, Spirit: Finding the Sacred in Food . Alice Peck. SkyLight Paths Publishing. 2008. 978-1-59473-242-3 .
• Book: An angle of vision . Lorraine López. University of Michigan Press. 2009. 978-0-472-05078-9 .

External links

• Author's website
• "Welcome to the Great Michigan Read", Bich Minh Nguyen
• "Bich Minh Nguyen", 29th Key West Literary Seminar

Notes and References

1. Web site: Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau: Award-Winning Authors + Writers.
2. Web site: Bich Minh Nguyen . Key West Literary Seminar . 29 March 2024.
3. Web site: PEN/Jerard Fund Award Winners . PEN America . 5 May 2016 . 22 May 2020.
4. Web site: Nguyen, Beth (Bich Minh) . English . en-US . 2020-05-21.
5. News: Nguyen . Beth . America Ruined My Name for Me . 28 March 2024 . The New Yorker . 1 April 2021.
6. News: WEDDINGS; Bich Nguyen, Porter Shreve . 29 March 2024 . The New York Times . June 2, 2002.
7. 1758304608512790862 . bethminhnguyen . I got divorced last year so my opinion on these essays means a lot more than many other people’s opinions ok?! . Beth . Nguyen . 15 February 2024 . 2024-03-29.
8. 1758304608512790862 . bethminhnguyen . I got divorced last year so my opinion on these essays means a lot more than many other people's opinions ok?! . Beth . Nguyen . 15 February 2024 . 2024-03-29.
9. News: Iversen . Liz . What's Ours to Tell: An interview with Beth Nguyen . 29 March 2024 . Lunch Ticket . 7 June 2023.