Wicked author Gregory Maguire discussed his childhood and the inspiration behind his bestselling novel at a packed auditorium of about 350 in the School of Management auditorium Thursday night.

The novel, which was recently adapted into a Tony-award-winning Broadway musical, offers Maguire’s explanation into the events that lead up to the childhood classic tale, The Wizard of Oz.

From the self-proclaimed obsessed Wicked fans to those who came only in hopes of getting a signature from one of their favorite authors, Maguire delivered a night filled not only with comical accounts of his childhood but insights into the stories behind the plot and his feelings of how reading can be a form of prayer.

College of Communication freshman Ashley Read said she came to see Maguire speak because she enjoyed the novel and wanted to know more about it.

“His personality surprised me,” she said. “I thought that some of the normal speakers are kind of boring … he was very animated and it added to the dynamic of the speech.”

It was this upbeat dynamic that kept the audience laughing for a large portion of the evening and kept students like Helen Lowery intrigued with Maguire.

“I read the books, and the tag line on the discussion looked really interesting,” the College of Arts and Sciences senior said.

Maguire explained that when he was growing up, it was a yearly ritual to watch the 1939 MGM Production of the Wizard of Oz on television. This annual ritual not only lent him the inspiration to write his best-selling novel, but created a world of childhood fantasy.

“I very much enjoyed him as a storyteller,” Lowery said. “I find him very fascinating.”

She said she was pleased with the way in which his lecture was similar to his writing.

“He engages the audience as he does with his books,” Lowery said.

Maguire told comical stories about performing The Wizard of Oz with his siblings and childhood friends in his neighbor’s backyard as a child, part of his inspiration for the book.

CAS junior Caitlin Waters said she enjoyed his personal narrative and his childhood stories.

Luce Program for Scripture and Literary Arts Director Peter Hawkins said this event was the first of its kind for the organization, and it turned out to be a tremendous success.

The program was founded in 2000 to explore the bible and its influence on Western literature. In Wicked, Maguire’s underlying tone is the message of evil in the individual, which happened to fit the program’s curriculum for the past two years, inspiring the program to invite Maguire to speak.

Maguire said he was pleased his novel had been turned into a successful musical. He said his novel Son of a Witch is in the process of being made into an opera.

Maguire concluded the lecture with his insights into why people read. He said he feels people turn to books to lose themselves.

“Losing ourselves in the pages of books may be as legitimate a way of praying as any other,” he said.