According to Harper Collins, evil author Gregory Maguire is writing a new book in the series based on Glinda.
This is evident from a statement on the publisher’s website Galinda: a charmed youth will focus on the “pink-clad, bubbly” Galinda Upland, who later becomes Glinda the Good.
It is a sister volume of Elphie: a bad childhoodwhich was released earlier this year.
Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the very first in the series focuses on Elphaba Thropp, who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.
The book offers a sympathetic look at Elphaba, first introduced in L Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a villainous character, and explores the nature of evil itself.
According to the new book’s synopsis, Galinda grows up as the youngest of four children in a once noble but “unfortunate” family where she is “both spoiled and ignored.”
The book, which will be released in September 2026, will follow her childhood and revolve around social and economic tensions before she attends Shiz University and becomes Elphaba’s best friend.
She adopts the spelling “Glinda”. Bad in solidarity with her professor, Dr. Dillamond, who repeatedly mispronounces her name.
The announcement of the prequel comes shortly after the release of the film adaptation of the Wicked saga, starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Galinda.
