Acclaimed Author Loung Ung to Speak at NSU Common Read Lecture

Northern State University will welcome internationally renowned author and advocate Loung Ung as the keynote speaker for the annual Larry and Julie Poeppel Family Common Read Lecture.  The event will take place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in the Harvey and Cynthia Jewett Theater at the Johnson Fine Arts Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Ung is the bestselling author of “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers,” a memoir chronicling her survival of the Cambodian genocide. In 2017, the book was adapted into a Netflix Original Movie directed by Angelina Jolie, with Ung serving as co-writer for the screenplay.