Five interesting facts about unconventional Nigerian writer, Amos Tutuola

He was a self-taught author

Tutuola first went to school aged 14 years old. He, however, had to drop out after his father, Charles, who had been paying his school fees died in 1939. He left school to learn how to be a blacksmith, a skill that took him to the Royal Air Force in Nigeria.

He wrote his first book in 1947 after he had worked a number of vocations including selling bread and working as a messenger.

On publishing the book, he said:

Well, I wrote the script of Palm-Wineand kept it in the house.  I didn’t know where to send it to.  Again, the following quarter I bought another magazine of the same type.  Fortunately when I read it, I got to where it advertised “Manuscripts Wanted” overseas.  Well then!  Immediately I sent my story to the advertiser.  When my script got to them they wrote in about two weeks saying that they did not accept manuscripts which were not concerned with religion, Christian religion.  But, they would not return my manuscript.  They would find a publisher for me because the story was strange to them that they would not be happy if they returned it to me.