With her husband Dale Smith, Nguyen edited ten issues of Skanky Possum Magazine, and under this imprint, published books and chapbooks by Kristin Prevallet, Tom Clark, Frank O'Hara, and others.

[2] Together they host a reading series presenting performances by Pierre Joris, Linh Dinh, Susan Briante, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Kate Greenstreet, Laynie Browne, Anselm Berrigan, and others.

Since 1998, she has led a popular virtual and in-person writing workshop focusing on the works of poets such as Alice Notley, Eileen Myles, Joanne Kyger, Philip Whalen, Charles Olson, Emily Dickinson, and Gertrude Stein.

Nguyen is frequently asked to give readings, act as poet in residence, and lecture on poetry for organizations across the country.

Her most recent collection, Violet Energy Ingots, was published by Wave Books in 2016 and was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2017.