Gregory Maguire

Albany, New York 1954

Gregory Maguire is an American writer, author of novels such as Wicked: Memoirs of a Bad Witch, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many others aimed at both children and adult audiences.

Many of his novels are reinterpretations of classic children’s stories. For example, in Wicked, he transformed the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into the compassionate and green Elphaba; while in Mirror, Mirror, he offers a retelling of Snow White. Wicked itself was later adapted into a highly successful Broadway musical.

Gregory Maguire completed his university studies at the State University of New York at Albany and holds a doctorate in English and American Literature from Tufts University. Between 1979 and 1985, he served as a professor and co-director of the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children’s Literature. In 1987, he co-founded the institution Children’s Literature New England.