He died in poverty
Despite having one of the most illustrious writing careers, Tutuola died in neglect and poverty in 1997 at 77 years old. He had been suffering from hypertension and diabetes.
He lived on his civil servant job, receiving only $50 (currently $400) as royalties for the first edition of the Palm-Wine Drinkard.
He died without any accolades from his home country, despite his contribution to Nigerian and African literature in general as well as his influence on modern writers like Ben Okri and Ken Saro Wiwa.
