My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses enslavement.

Amos Tutuola was born in 1920 in the city of Abeokuta in Nigeria, Africa and is considered the first Nigerian author to have reached international recognition (Brennan, Carol. "Tutuola, Amos 1920–1997." Contemporary Black Biography. Encyclopedia.com.). Tutuola’s Yoruba heritage and upbringing inspired his novels, including My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. After a short education, Tutuola left school following the death of his father, a cacao farmer, and joined the Royal Air Force as a coppersmith during World War II. Following the war, he began translating Yoruba stories into English, and, a few years later, he wrote his first novel, The Palm-Wine Drinkard, which became popular abroad despite being received less favorably in Nigeria ("Tutuola, Amos 1920–1997."). While some early critics questioned Tutuola’s choice to write in English rather than his native Yoruba, others have praised his inventive use of language, which often uses Yoruba grammatical constructs, coins new phrases, and translates Nigerian idioms ("Tutuola, Amos 1920–1997."). Like Tutuola’s first novel, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and his subsequent works were all written in English too. His writing has been translated into at least 15 languages ("