NHSTalks Stories || Episode 17: Gregory Maguire - February 23, 2021

Gregory Maguire, son of a Greek immigrant mother and an Irish-American father, is a writer of novels for adults and children. His best-known work, WICKED, a novel for adults that inspired the blockbuster Broadway show of the same name. That musical is the fifth longest-running play in Broadway history. In addition to thirty-five other books for children and adults, Maguire has spent his career as an advocate for children’s literature and literacy and for Greek studies. Besides writing and performing original work for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” he has been featured on Oprah and been a profiled in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His books frequently make the New York Times bestseller lists. Perhaps, however, he is just as proud of his work in advocating for Greek cultural awareness. He is the chair of the Honorary Board of the Examined Life: Greek Studies in the Schools. He has established a Gregory Maguire Writing Center at the American Farm School / Perrotis College in Thessaloniki, supported scholarships for the International Board of Books for Young People’s convention in Athens, been the recipient of the Penelope Delta Award, and was Greece’s nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.