After being a major force in music for a very long time with his voice and writings on war, heartbreak, betrayal, death and moral faithlessness in songs, he is being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
After the announcement, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius, said it had “not been a difficult decision” and hoped that the academy would not be criticised for its choice. “We hoped the news would be received with joy, but you never know,” she said, comparing the songs of the American songwriter to the works of Homer and Sappho.
“He’s a great poet in the great English tradition, stretching from Milton and Blake onwards. And he’s a very interesting traditionalist, in a highly original way. Not just the written tradition, but also the oral one; not just high literature, but also low literature.”
Named Robert Allen Zimmerman at birth, Dylan got his first guitar at the age of 14 and performed in rock’n’roll bands in high school. He adopted the name Dylan, after the poet Dylan Thomas, and, drawn to the music of Woody Guthrie, began to perform folk music. His first album, Bob Dylan, was released in 1962 and he followed it up with a host of albums now regarded as masterpieces, including Blonde on Blonde in 1966, and Blood on the Tracks in 1975.
Among various communities, many well-known figures have appreciated the award being presented to Dylan. The author Salman Rushdie told the Guardian, he was delighted with Dylan’s win and said his lyrics had been “an inspiration to me all my life ever since I first heard a Dylan album at school”. But, Dylan’s own response to his achievement is unknown as he has not made a statement about it.
The winner of the Prize is selected by an 18 member jury who look to award the person who has produced the best work in the field of literature. Dylan is the second American to win the Nobel Prize for literature since Toni Morrison in 1993.
