Iremember seeing the book display at Shakespeare & Company Books in New York City. I was looking for a new read, and there it was: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. It was 2003, just around the time the Broadway musical version was set to premiere, which gave the novel prime, eye-level real estate in the bookstore.
I had never heard of the book, the musical, or Gregory Maguire. Like many super fans of The Wizard of Oz film,
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I was drawn to the idea of immersing myself in the fantasy world of Oz, and here was an exciting opportunity. And from the Wicked Witch’ s perspective? Compelling. I was in. The novel was published in 1995 to rave reviews, so I was admittedly late to the game, but just on time to be a part of the Wicked universe.
Wicked was just the gateway into his work, and I was eager to dive into the fairy tales and children’ s stories that he turned upside down and brought firmly into the world of adult fiction. When I discovered he’ d been a published writer for twenty-five years already, I realized just how late to the game I really was.
Gregory was born and raised in Albany, NY. In 1976, he graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a BA in English. At age 24, he published his first children’ s novel, The Lightning Time, in 1978. It was also the same year he got his MA in children’ s literature at Simmons College, and the year he began to realize he was gay. From 1979 to 1986, he was a professor and co-director