Bob Dylan won't attend Nobel prize ceremony

STOCKHOLM - American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature last month, has decided not to attend the award ceremony in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy said on Wednesday.

The notoriously media-shy Dylan said three weeks ago he would accept the 8 million crown ($870,000) prize, after repeated attempts by the award-giving academy to contact him since it named him as the winner on Oct. 13.

The Academy said on its website that it had received a letter from Dylan explaining that due to "pre-existing commitments" he was unable to travel to Stockholm in December.

"We look forward to Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture, which he must give - it is the only requirement - within six months counting from December 10," it said in a statement, adding that it would provide additional information on Friday Nov. 18.

The lecture need not be delivered in Stockholm. When British novelist Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel literature prize in 2007, she composed a lecture and sent it to her Swedish publisher, who read it out at a ceremony in the Swedish capital.

Other Nobel Prize winners who have not attended the prize ceremony include Britain's Harold Pinter and Elfriede Jelinek of Austria.

The ceremony is planned to be held on Dec. 10.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize for Literature

STOCKHOLM - Bob Dylan, regarded as the voice of a generation for his influential songs from the 1960s onwards, has won the Nobel Prize for Literature in a surprise decision that gave a singer-songwriter one of the world's most prestigious cultural awards.

His songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," "The Times They Are a-Changin," "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Like a Rolling Stone" captured a spirit of rebellion, dissent and independence.

"Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound," the Swedish Academy said on Thursday, when it awarded the 8 million Swedish crown ($930,000) prize.

More than 50 years on, Dylan is still writing songs and is often on tour.

"He is probably the greatest living poet," Swedish Academy member Per Wastberg said.

Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Nobel Academy, told a news conference there was "great unity" in the panel's decision to give Dylan the prize.

Literature was the last of this year's Nobel prizes to be awarded. The prize is named after dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel and has been awarded since 1901 for achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with his will.

($1 = 8.6231 Swedish crowns)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com