Sage Hill School to host author Celeste Ng in annual speaker series
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A Sage Hill School speaker series aimed at putting students and community members in touch with the best and brightest thinkers, creators and innovators on Tuesday welcomes writer and novelist Celeste Ng to the Newport Coast campus.
The bestselling author will speak on her breakout hit, “Everything I Never Told You,” a literary thriller that focuses on racism and family life in 1970s Ohio and was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2014.
Ng has also received accolades for her 2022 novel, “Our Missing Hearts,” and “Little Fires Everywhere,” a 2017 novel that was adapted into a popular limited series on Hulu starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.
Free and open to the public, Tuesday’s 6 p.m. talk is hosted by the school’s Hamoui Family Sage Center for Innovative Curriculum, which offers students a chance to deepen their personal development and learning by exposing them to difference makers, both locally and internationally.
Director Sanan Shirinian said since its inception in 2018, the speaker series has become one of the center’s most meaningful traditions, inspiring students to be agents of change by connecting them with storytellers and professionals across disciplines.
“We invite extraordinary guests whose voices spark conversation and reflection on important, deeply human topics,” Shirinian said Friday. “We’re proud to offer these events free and open to the public as part of our commitment to education beyond the classroom.”
Past speakers include world-renowned author Sandra Cisneros, New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds and UCI Professor of Psychology and Informatics Candice Odgers who, in 2025, discussed research analyzing adolescent mental health and social media.
In addition to the annual series, the school’s Sage Center brings together opportunities for travel and cultural immersion, community service learning, seminars and internships intended to broaden students’ horizons and engage them locally and globally.
“Everything I Never Told You: A Conversation with Celeste Ng” takes place from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Kazu Fukuda Black Box Theater at Sage Hill School, 20402 Newport Coast Drive, Newport Beach. The author will sign copies of her books immediately following her talk. To RSVP, visit sagehillschool.org/celesteng.
