It took Bob Dylan the best part of a week to acknowledge that he had been awarded the Nobel prize in literature, and even then only in the most dismissive way: an update to a page on his website plugging a new collection of his lyrics. But now it appears even that paltry nod went too far for the mercurial music legend.
The simple words “winner of the Nobel prize in literature”, which appeared on the page for The Lyrics: 1961-2012, have now been removed. Bob Dylan, Nobel laureate, is once again plain Bob Dylan.
That single sentence was the sole public recognition Dylan had given to the prestigious award, announced last week in Stockholm. According to Sara Danius, the Nobel academy’s permanent secretary, attempts had been made to contact Dylan about the award via close associates of his, but he had kept silent.
Dylan, though clearly aware and proud of his monumental legacy — recent years have seen a succession of releases of archive material under the umbrella title of the Bootleg Series, in which he has deluged fans with unreleased material and opened up his working methods to scrutiny — has always stepped away from attempts to corral him into being something he does not want to be.
