Amos Olatubosun Tutuola

Background

Amos Tutuola was born on June 20, 1920 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, into the family of Charles Tutuola Odegbami and Esther Aina Tutuola, who were Christian cocoa farmers.

Education

At the age of seven he became a servant for F.O. Monu, an Igbo man, who sent Tutuola to the Salvation Army primary school in lieu of wages. At age of twelve he attended the Anglican Central School in Abeokuta. His brief education was limited to six years (from 1934 to 1939). When his father died in 1939, Tutuola left school.

Career

Tutuola left school to train as a blacksmith, which trade he practised from 1942 to 1945 for the Royal Air Force in Nigeria. He subsequently tried a number of other vocations, including selling bread and acting as messenger for the Nigerian Department of Labor. In 1946, Tutuola completed his first full-length book, The Palm-Wine Drinkard, within a few days.

Despite his short formal education, Tutuola wrote his novels in English. Tutuola's most famous novel, "The Palm-Wine Drinkard and his Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Deads' Town", was written in 1946, first published in 1952 in London by Faber and Faber, then translated and published in Paris as "L'Ivrogne dans la brousse by Raymond Queneau" in 1953. "The Palm-Wine Drinkard" was followed up by "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" in 1954 and then several other books in which Tutuola continued to explore Yoruba traditions and folklore. After he had written his first three books and become internationally famous, he joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1956 as a storekeeper in Ibadan, Western Nigeria. Tutuola also became one of the founders of the Mbari Club, the writers' and publishers' organization. In 1979, he held a visiting research fellowship at Obafemi Awolowo University at Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and in 1983 he was an associate of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. In retirement he divided his time between residences at Ibadan and Ago-Odo. Tutuola died at the age of 77 on June 8, 1997 from hypertension and diabetes.

Achievements

• Tutuola is credited as the first internationally recognized Nigerian writer for his novels and short stories retelling folktales. His honors included being named an honorary citizen of New Orleans in 1983 and receiving second-place awards in Turin, Italy, in 1985 for "The Palmwine Drinkard" and "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts."

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Palm-Wine Drinkard and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts 1993
  • Pauper, Brawler and Slanderer 1987
  • Yoruba Folktales
  • Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle
  • Ajaiyi and His Inherited Poverty
  • My Life In the Bush of Ghosts 1962
  • The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories
  • Feather Woman of the Jungle
  • Don't Pay Bad for Bad & Other Stories (Cheeky Frawg Historicals Book 1)

Membership

• Mbari Club

Personality

Tutuola was a shy man who did not travel much.

Interests

• farming, writing

Connections

In 1947 he married Victoria Alake, with whom he had four sons and four daughters.

Father:

Charles Tutuola Odegbami

Mother:

Esther Aina Odegbami

Spouse:

Victoria Alake Tutuola

Grandfather:

Odafin Odegbami

Served as an administrative head of Abeokuta and served with the British colonizers of Nigeria.

References

• Amos Tutuola et l'univers du conte africain (French Edition)
• Early West African Writers: Amos Tutuola, Cyprian Ekwensi and Ayi Kwei Armah
• Amos Tutuola, (Twayne's world authors series, 62)
• Relocating Agency: Modernity and African Letters (Suny Series in Explorations in Postcolonial Studies) (Suny Series, Explorations in Postcolonial Studies)