After a long period spent completely ignoring his Nobel Prize honour, followed by an eventual public acknowledgment that, yes, he’d heard the news that he’d won it, Bob Dylan is now finally going to make the effort to accept the prestigious award.
As reported by NPR, a post by the Swedish Academy’s permanent secretary Sara Danius confirmed that Dylan will be making the trip to Stockholm to accept the Nobel Prize in Literature this weekend.
In truth, he’s not making a special trip over, and is simply stopping by as he makes his way through as part of his never-ending touring schedule – and the Academy will need to hand it over to him at one of his shows – but he’s making that effort, at least.
“The Swedish Academy is very much looking forward to the weekend and will show up at one of the performances,” Danius says. “The Academy will then hand over Dylan’s Nobel diploma and the Nobel medal, and congratulate him on the Nobel Prize in Literature.”
“The setting will be small and intimate, and no media will be present; only Bob Dylan and members of the Academy will attend, all according to Dylan’s wishes.”
The one thing left unaccounted for is his requisite lecture, which needs to be delivered by June 10 in order for him to collect the $900,000 that comes with the award.
“Please note that no Nobel Lecture will be held. The Academy has reason to believe that a taped version will be sent at a later point,” Danius says of the lecture, noting that others have also provided pre-recorded versions.
While we’re sure he doesn’t need the money, almost a million dollars is nothing to sneeze at for what will basically equate to a Skype chat, and at this point, we’re sure the Nobel folks will be happy just to have the whole thing over and done with.
As for Bob, he’s clearly more focused on his music, as he gears up to release his first ever triple album tomorrow.
