Legendary singer Bob Dylan has finally accepted his 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, six months after he was announced as the winner of the prestigious award. A member of the Swedish Academy confirmed that the iconic singer-songwriter collected the diploma and medal ahead of a concert in Stockholm, reports The Independent.
Academy member Klas Ostergren said the 75-year-old-singer received the award during a small gathering at a hotel, with just academy members and Dylan's staff present. The Like a rolling stone singer did not mention anything about receiving the Nobel at his concert, after months of discussion on whether he would collect the prize in person.
Earlier, Dylan had declined the invitation to attend the traditional Nobel Prize ceremony in December 2016. This led one academy member Per Wastberg, to call Dylan “impolite and arrogant.”
The first songwriter to receive the prize later sent a thank-you speech that was read aloud during the ceremony in Stockholm, but he didn't choose a person to accept the award in his place.
In the speech, Dylan apologised for not being able to attend the event and expressed surprise over being chosen as a laureate in the league of authors like Ernest Hemingway and Albert Camus. The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."
With Inputs From ANI.
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