In a strange and widely-criticized move by the Nobel committee, Bob Dylan was to become the first person to win a Nobel Prize in literature who hasn't actually produced any literature... That is, unless you consider songs to be literature - which i suppose if poetry is, so are songs.
The year was 2016
Personally, I'm kind of on the fence about this one: On one side you could say that Bob Dylan was only considered for this award because he is Bob Dylan. On the other side you can also say that the major reason why any of us even know who Bob Dylan is was because of his profound lyrics. It certainly wasn't for his stunning vocal range.
However, there were a lot of people out there that thought that this coveted award (and the massive monetary prize associated with it) should be given to someone actually involved in writing - like with a typewriter... who creates a story.
There were a lot of scalding and also funny comments made about Dylan's winning of the award, but this one was one that really stood out to me.
Bob himself was (as you would be) elated to win the award and said he didn't expect to receive it and actually laughed a bit when he heard he was being considered. When it was announced that he won, he actually refused to attend the ceremony claiming "previous obligations."
The Nobel Committee said that they "had given up" on contacting Dylan because he seemed to be refusing their phone calls and other attempts at contacting him.
In order to claim one's Nobel Prize, they are required to give a lecture before they can receive the whopping $900,000 that comes along with it. I know that Bob is rich, but is he so rich that he can't put together a 15 minutes speech for 900K?
Dylan eventually accepted his award in a private ceremony which was shrouded in secrecy and only around a dozen people knew where it was taking place and were invited. This was largely seen as "arrogant" and "disrespectful" towards the Nobel organization.
As far as his "speech" was concerned he didn't even do it live. In 2016 at the actual ceremony a prepared statement was read by someone else. In 2017, at apparently just before the deadline before the 900 thousand dollars would be forfeit, Dylan had prepared recorded audio where he is reading his "lecture."
That is part one of his near 30 minute lecture that he finally (and some would say reluctantly) provided to the Nobel Committee. It is evident throughout that even Bob Dylan is surprised that Bob Dylan won this award.
Ellen Willis (musical critic / scholar) once wrote of Dylan:
...But poetry also requires economy, coherence, and discrimination, and Dylan has perpetrated prolix verses, horrendous grammar, tangled phrases, silly metaphors, embarrassing clichés, muddled thought; at times he seems to believe one good image deserves five others, and he relies too much on rhyme.
This was written by Willis 40 years before Dylan's winning of the Nobel and it is well-known by people who have dived into Dylan's songs that they are often exactly that... especially "muddled" in that they are so confusing that noone actually knows what the songs are exactly about.
I suppose i don't really have a steadfast opinion because even though they are meant to be the globe's highest honor, I don't pay much attention to Nobel Prizes and if you didn't even know that Dylan actually won this award - we might in the same camp.
What do you think? I'd love to discuss it in the comments.