Celeste Ng

Date of Birth: July 30, 1980

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Biography

Celeste Ng is an acclaimed American author known for her poignant and thought-provoking novels that delve into the complexities of family, identity, and race. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a diverse suburb of Cleveland. Ng’s parents were immigrants from Hong Kong, with her father working as a physicist at NASA and her mother as a chemist. This background provided her with a unique perspective on the immigrant experience, which is a recurring theme in her work. Ng attended Harvard University, where she earned a degree in English, and later obtained an MFA from the University of Michigan. Her debut novel, “Everything I Never Told You,” was published in 2014 and received widespread critical acclaim, winning the Amazon Book of the Year Award. The novel explores the impact of cultural expectations and family dynamics on the lives of a Chinese-American family in 1970s Ohio. Her second novel, “Little Fires Everywhere,” published in 2017, further cemented her status as a significant voice in contemporary literature. The book examines issues of race, class, privilege, and motherhood in suburban America and was adapted into a successful television series by Hulu, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. Ng’s writing is characterized by its emotional depth, keen social insights, and ability to capture the nuances of human relationships. She continues to write and contribute to various literary and cultural discussions, making her a prominent figure in modern American literature.

5 Interesting Facts about Celeste Ng

1. Celeste Ng’s debut novel, “Everything I Never Told You,” was named Amazon’s Book of the Year in 2014.

2. “Little Fires Everywhere” was adapted into a Hulu miniseries in 2020, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

3. Ng has written for several prestigious publications, including The New York Times and The Guardian.

4. She received the Pushcart Prize for her short story “Girls at Play,” which was published in One Story.

5. Celeste Ng’s work often explores themes related to race, identity, and the immigrant experience, reflecting her own background as the daughter of Hong Kong immigrants.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Celeste Ng

1. “You never got what you wanted; you just learned to get by without it.”

2. “Sometimes you almost forgot: that you didn’t look like everyone else.”

3. “To a parent, your child wasn’t just a person: your child was a place, a kind of Narnia, a vast eternal place where the present you were living and the past you remembered and the future you longed for all existed at once.”

4. “Maybe at the heart of all our mistakes, there’s the one thing we want so desperately, that we’re ready to do anything to get it.”

5. “Most communities just happen; the best are planned.”