Dylan Breaks Nobel Silence

Bob Dylan finally acknowledged – and accepted – his 2016 Nobel Prize for literature, the Swedish Academy said, adding that being awarded the honor had left him “speechless.”

Photo: YouTube frame capture

While speculation abounded that the two-week silence after the announcement was a case of “Bob being Bob,” Sara Danious, the Swedish Academy’s permanent secretary, said Dylan himself contacted them and said “of course” he accepted the prize.

“The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless,” Dylan told Danius, according to a statement on the Academy’s website. “I appreciate the honor so much.” While it’s not certain Dylan will attend the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm, he told noted music journalist Edna Gunderson, writing for the Telegraph of London, that he “absolutely” plans to attend, “if it’s at all possible.”

The ceremony is scheduled Dec. 10. Gunderson might have caught Dylan at a good time – she’s interviewed the press-shy bard several times in the last 25 years, and was able to drop the question about the Nobel Prize into an already scheduled chat about his visual art exhibit that opens at London’s Halcyon Gallery Nov. 16.

Of becoming a Nobel laureate, Dylan told Gunderson it was “hard to believe.” He added that when he was first told of his selection, his response was that it was “amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?”