Based on what has already happened this year, if you woke up this morning and saw “Bob Dylan” trending on Twitter, it would be normal to expect the worst. Thankfully, this is a lot better outcome than what we would have thought.
The Nobel Committee awarded Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Dylan becomes the first American in 23 years to win the Nobel Prize in Literature since Toni Morrison won in 1993.
Some may be left confused as to how a musician could win a Nobel Prize for Literature but while the conventional thought would be that only authors and novelists could win, Dylan is considered one of the greatest and most influential songwriters in modern music and songs are essentially poems set to music. So like the Nobel Committee said, “creating new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” counts as literature. Thus, for a career like he has over the past half-century, Dylan certainly deserves the Nobel Prize.
The Nobel Committee’s permanent secretary, Sara Danius, expanded on Dylan’s inclusion for the Nobel Prize.
“He is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition, and he is a wonderful sampler — a very original sampler. For 54 years now he has been at it and reinventing himself, constantly creating a new identity.”
Bob Dylan has a historic career in the music industry. The musician and songwriter is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a 12-time Grammy winner, Golden Globe and Academy Award winner and has a Pulitzer Prize in addition to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Now, Bob Dylan can add the Nobel Prize to his long list of achievements.
[NPR/Photo: WireImage]