Bob Dylan is to collect his Nobel Prize for Literature this weekend – five months after he was awarded the accolade.
The ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ hitmaker failed to pick up the prestigious medal and diploma at a ceremony in Sweden last December, but now the academy has confirmed he’ll finally have it in his hands this weekend as he will be performing at Stockholm Waterfront on April 1 and April 2.
The 75-year-old music legend asked them to make it an ”intimate” affair with no press allowed, and he won’t be giving the lecture that’s required to receive the £750,000 prize money in person.
In a blog post, Professor Sara Danius, the secretary of the Swedish Academy, wrote: ”The good news is 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.
”The setting will be small and intimate, and no media will be present; only Bob Dylan and members of the Academy will attend, all according to Dylan’s wishes.”
The iconic singer is expected to send a taped lecture, but if he doesn’t deliver it by June, he will have to forfeit the money.
In a recorded speech read out by the US ambassador to Sweden at the ceremony in December, he admitted it was ”something [he] never could have imagined or seen coming”.
The speech went on to explain that when he first heard he had won the prize – which comes with £750,000 – he thought of William Shakespeare.
He said: ”When he was writing ‘Hamlet’, I’m sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: ‘Who’re the right actors for these roles? How should this be staged? Do I really want to set this in Denmark?’
”His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. ‘Is the financing in place? Are there enough good seats for my patrons? Where am I going to get a human skull?’ I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare’s mind was the question: ‘Is this literature?’
”Like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life’s mundane matters. ‘Who are the best musicians for these songs? Am I recording in the right studio? Is this song in the right key?’ Some things never change, even in 400 years. Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself ‘are my songs literature?’ So, I do thank the Swedish academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question and ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.”
