Bob Dylan Wins 2016 Nobel Prize In Literature: Good Or Bad Choice?

Let the controversy begin… the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature belongs to iconic troubadour/poet Bob Dylan.

On Thursday, the Swedish Academy awarded one of the highest honors in the literary world to the 75-year-old “voice of the 1960s,” who became famous for his inimitable redefinition of folk music and the maestro-like wordplay behind his often-politically charged lyrics.

The academy stated that Dylan deserved the award “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Dylan is the first Nobel Laureate since George Bernhard Shaw to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar, according to the academy.

The decision was surprising, as the majority of the prestigious literature prizes have traditionally been given to prose writers such as Rudyard Kipling, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Gabriel García Márquez, Toni Morrison, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.

Recent winners have included Svetlana Alexievich, Patrick Modiano, Alice Munro and Mo Yan. See a full list of previous recipients here.

The controversy around the academy’s decision began almost immediately, when Permanent Secretary at the Swedish Academy Sara Danius was asked about whether Dylan deserved the award.

“Well of course he does, he just got it,” Danius replied.

The New York Times called the announcement a “surprise.”

“Although Mr. Dylan, 75, has been mentioned often as having an outside shot at the prize, his work does not fit into the literary canons of novels, poetry and short stories that the prize has traditionally recognized,” The Times wrote.

Social media reaction was also split in opinion.

However, one Tweet from a Dylan fan and supporter of the academy’s decision seemed to encapsulate many others’ feelings on the issue.

“Folks: Songwriting is writing, and Bob Dylan is one of the most influential writers in the last 100 years. It's a defensible Nobel pick,” the fan wrote.

BIOGRAPHY

Here are some Dylan highlights, according to the Swedish Academy:

• Born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota
• Grew up in a Jewish middle-class family in the city of Hibbing
• Albums include Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited in 1965, Blonde On Blonde (1966), Blood On The Tracks (1975), Oh Mercy (1989), Time Out Of Mind (1997) and Modern Times (2006)
• Has published experimental work like Tarantula (1971), the collection Writings and Drawings (1973), and an autobiography, Chronicles (2004)

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, NASA.gov: President Barack Obama presents American musician Bob Dylan with a Medal of Freedom