Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize draws mixed reviews
- by Paula Vaughn
- in Culture
- — Oct 14, 2016
Bob Dylan's selection as the Nobel Prize victor for literature sparked controversy on social media today, but the polarizing pick is earning praise among some Canadian writers.
Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius, said she hoped the Academy would not be criticised for its choice, reports the Guardian.
FILE - This July 22, 2012, file photo shows US singer-songwriter Bob Dylan performing onstage at "Les Vieilles Charrues" Festival in Carhaix, western France.
In 2008, the singer-songwriter won the Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to music and American culture.
The Nobel is the latest accolade for a singer who has come a long way from his humble beginnings as Robert Allen Zimmerman, born in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, who taught himself to play the harmonica, guitar and piano.
Dylan is the first musician to be awarded the prize.
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Other express an "end of days" sentiment, feeling that South Africa is not progressing due to is political drama and openly attacked Shaun Abrahams.
The Swedish Academy, the body tasked with awarding the prize, credited Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
He continued: "If you're a "music" fan, look it up in the dictionary". But he notes that the committee has recognized a "wide latitude in terms of medium", such as Winston Churchill's oratory, and there's a compelling argument that Dylan has had a good effect on the world.
"What a joy that Bob Dylan got the Nobel for literature". Dylan became an icon in popular music and culture after his songs became anthems for the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. And, like the definition of literature itself, Dylan's own writing has been recreated and reinvented over and over again throughout the years, each time presenting itself as being of the time.
"Bob Dylan is one of the greatest poets of all time", said award-winning Montreal-based author Kathleen Winter, citing Dylan's 1963 track "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" among her favourites.
Here is Dylan in 2000 completing his change cycle.
Singer, songwriter and tribute show organizer Chris LeDrew says as a literature professor at Memorial University, he's not surprised by the Nobel Prize announcement. The six awards, each worth 8 million kronor (about $930,000), will be handed out on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.
