Bob Dylan finally plans to formally accept Nobel Prize
Of all the wacky news stories that proliferated in 2016, one of the funniest was the strange saga of Bob Dylan and the Nobel committee. After becoming the second American since Toni Morrison to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Dylan decided to react by barely even acknowledging it had happened. Even when he finally accepted the honor, he still skipped out on the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm, where Patti Smith sang “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” in his place. But more than five months after winning the award, it seems that Dylan is finally ready to meet members of the Swedish Academy this weekend when he’s performing in Stockholm.
Prof. Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, wrote in a blog post Wednesday that “the Swedish Academy and Bob Dylan have decided to meet this weekend. The Academy will then hand over Dylan’s Nobel diploma and the Nobel medal, and congratulate him on the Nobel Prize in Literature.” Per Dylan’s request, the ceremony will be “small and intimate,” and no media members will be permitted.
Given the intimate setting, Danius noted that Dylan would not be delivering a Nobel Lecture this weekend, but that “The Academy has reason to believe that a taped version will be sent at a later point.” Giving a Nobel Lecture is a requirement for claiming the award’s 8 million kroner ($900,000) prize money, so Dylan has until June to deliver one or forfeit the prize money.
