The Nobel Prize Committee finally found Bob Dylan, which is very good news
Over the years, the Swedish Academy has awarded some pretty amazing people the Nobel Prize and this year is no different. Two weeks ago, the Academy announced that the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature was none other than the wickedly talented singer-songwriter, the one and only, Bob Dylan. It seems the announcement came as such a shock to Dylan that he left the committee hanging and just straight up didn’t respond to their calls. Oops? Over the weekend, the Nobel Prize committee finally found Bob Dylan, so you can stop worrying that he was lost (you were, right?) Apparently, the long wait was totally necessary for him to collect his thoughts.
On Saturday, Dylan finally found the words he was searching for. While speaking to the Swedish Academy, he had this to say:
“It's hard to believe," then added that learning he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature was "amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?"
Dylan’s Nobel prize is due to his “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” He reportedly told the organization’s secretary he was “speechless. I appreciate the honor so much.” When asked whether he had intentions of attending the awards ceremony in Stockholm Dylan told The Telegraph, “Absolutely. If it’s at all possible.”
And of course, the one thing we all want to know is, uh, what the heck took him so long? When asked why he hadn’t spoken about claiming the high honor and nice check that goes with it, the songwriter playfully responded, “Well, I’m right here…” Mr. Bob Dylan is obviously too cool for school. Winning the Nobel Prize for Literature is kind of a big deal and one that many other writers would be thrilled to receive.
When it was announced that he was the winner, some book lovers were a little taken aback that a songwriter would win. When it turned out that the committee couldn’t get in touch with the legend, everyone was a little perplexed, to say the very least. Per Wastberg, a Swedish writer who is a member of the academy called the musician’s lack of response,”impolite and arrogant,”according to The Guardian. It’s not like he was missing — he performed the very day of the announcement and didn’t even make a peep.
The Nobel Prize is sometimes rife with controversy, which may be why the socially conscious musician took so long to accept it the prize. Or may be it was really that Dylan was “left speechless” and just needed some time to come up with the right response (which is a little odd for someone given a prize for being a wordsmith, but let’s just overlook that for now).
But all’s well that ends well. Bob Dylan knows he won a prize and will (likely) accept it. He’s the first musician to ever win the award, so let’s hope he accepts the honor.
