Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize for Literature

In an unexpected move, the Swedish Committee named Bob Dylan as the 2016 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is the first time to come from popular music and the first American to win the award since Toni Morrison in 1993. The Committee specifically cited Dylan's contribution for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.

Mr. Dylan, 75, is the first musician to win the award, and his selection on Thursday is perhaps the most radical choice in a history stretching back to 1901. In choosing a popular musician for the literary world’s highest honor, the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, dramatically redefined the boundaries of literature, setting off a debate about whether song lyrics have the same artistic value as poetry or novels. (New York Times). Dylan now joins the ranks of other Nobel Literature Prize winners: T.S. Eliot, Gabriel Marquez, and Samuel Beckett.

To find out more about Bob Dylan, the library has a variety of materials available for checkout. Click on the links below for the catalog:

Bob Dylan Biographies

Bob Dylan Music

Bob Dylan-Criticism and interpretation

 

Take a listen to The Times are a Changin'

Originally Posted by LindaD on October 22, 2016