“Wicked’s” Author Talks Faith, Gay Identity, and Elphaba at Fordham Event

Wicked’s Gregory Maguire, author of the book on which the hit musical is based, discussed faith, life as a gay Catholic, and fostering empathy in difficult times at a recent event hosted by the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University. 

Gregory Maguire chats with Jim McDermott.

Maguire sat down with Jim McDermott, a freelance writer who is a blog contributor to Bondings 2.0,in front of a packed audience at  Pope Auditorium at the Jesuit school’s Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan to reflect on his motivation for writing Wicked as well as the story’s ongoing impact today. Maguire has previously written a reflection for Bondings 2.0 in which he explores the ways that growing up as a gay Catholic influenced and inspired his writing of Wicked, and these parallels were further discussed in this most recent conversation. A summary of the Fordham conversation was published on Sapientia, the blog of the Center on Religion and Culture.

Originally, Maguire intended to write Wicked as portraying the growth and development of a truly evil figure. However, as he began writing, he realized that it was easy to demonize Elphaba and portray her in a way that only affirmed his point of view, but it was more challenging, yet ultimately more fruitful, to let her own perspective guide the narrative. He explained:

“You can’t hijack her life to prove your intellectual points about what monsters are,” he told himself. “You owe it to her to allow her to live her life in some amount of freedom…You can’t abandon her.” 

This became the book’s central theme, and it is clear how Maguire’s own experiences as a gay Catholic inform this perspective. Queer Catholics know all too well the experience of being the subject of discussion while being excluded from being dialogue partners. We know how it feels to be demonized and to have someone else tell our stories without our input or perspective. 

Indeed, many of us know how it feels to be portrayed as a monster. In writing Wicked, Maguire set out to illuminate the other side of the story, the side of the person who is misrepresented and hated. While the story is steeped in fantasy, there is a deep resonance that can be felt among LGBTQ+ Catholics who long for their side of their stories to be told. 

Despite his struggles with the Church, Maguire remains a faithful Catholic. In his conversation with McDermott, he spoke of religion as being steeped in wonder and exploration, asserting that the root of religion “is awe.” While not everyone may agree with his expression of Catholicism, he acknowledges, faith remains his firm foundation and support. He described a challenge from a friend who said: 

“You think it’s a cafeteria of choices and you can just slide your tray along the system of practices, choose what makes sense to you and leave the rest behind.But the Church says you can’t do that.”

His response: “Yes, but that’s something I leave on the counter.”

For Maguire, his Catholic faith ultimately informs his approach to the world, an approach which is characterized by wonder and openness, two qualities that are notably also deeply intertwined with the experience of living as a queer person: 

“I live my life as best I can in the states of reverence and hope. I hope for the good of people, for myself and for the world, and I live in reverence for the chance even to be in despair, because at least I’m alive. Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel a bit different.  

“We have this incredible, daunting, and opening chance to decide how to be in the world today. I have a chance to be attentive. I have a chance to be kind. I manage to avoid evil—some days yes and some days no—but can I manage to do some good, too?”

This perspective, informed by Maguire’s identity as both Catholic and gay, is a constant undercurrent in the story of Wicked and continues to be something that Maguire hopes audiences will wrestle with. 

As the legacy of Wicked continues to unfold today, there is undoubtedly something that all of us can learn, especially when it comes to recognizing whose story we choose to listen to. Are we content to believe that the people we are told are disordered and flawed are truly monstrous? Or do we strive to understand them on a deeper level and hear who they are in their own words? For LGBTQ+ Catholics, these are questions that all must answer. 

—Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, November 25, 2025