It’s been a week since the Swedish Academy decided to award Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize for Literature, sparking conversations about whether it was deserved and the changing nature of the prize. But seemingly the only person not to weigh in on the matter was the recipient himself: Earlier this week, the Swedish Academy basically gave up on trying to get in touch with Dylan after he didn’t return its calls, and the musician had yet to even publicly acknowledge that he knew he’d won. Until today.
Some keen-eyed individuals spotted the award listed on Dylan’s website, on a page promoting his book of lyrics, aptly title The Lyrics: 1961–2012. “WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE,” touts the page in all caps.
Screenshot, Oct. 20, 2:14 p.m.
Given how subtly the award is listed (it doesn’t make the home page or even the news section of the site), this seems like the barest of acknowledgements, but it’s more than we had to go by previously. We still don’t know, however, whether the folk icon will attend the ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.*
Update, Oct. 21, 2016, 12:04 p.m.: In yet another twist in this already strange saga, the very brief mention of Dylan’s Nobel win has now vanished from the page for The Lyrics. As the Guardian points out, the single sentence, which so far was the only public acknowledgement from Dylan that he had won the prestigious award, had been removed by early Friday morning.
Screenshot, Oct. 21, 11:58 a.m.
*Correction, Oct. 20, 2016: This post originally misstated that the Nobel Prize Award ceremony will take place on Nov. 10. The ceremony will take place Dec. 10.
