Often considered an eccentric pioneer of modern West African literature in English, Amos Tutuola seldom travelled and lectured abroad, unlike some of his Nigerian contemporaries such as Gabriel Okara and Chinua Achebe. However, there are two momentous exceptions: his Associate Fellowship in 1983 at the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa, USA, and a Sicilian lecturing spree in 1990. Despite this relative lack of international exposure, Tutuola’s books have rarely gone out of print and have been a staple of academic syllabi worldwide. Surprisingly, he does not feature, for instance, in

African Writers Talking

(1972) in which, alongside South African, East African and West African Writers, the only Nigerian writers whom Dennis Duerden and Cosmo Pieterse interviewed…

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Citation: Zabus, Chantal. "Amos Tutuola". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 December 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4483, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4483 Amos Tutuola 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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