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Legendary singer and songwriter Robert Allen "Bob Dylan" Zimmerman has just been awarded the [Nobel Prize in Literature] (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/press.html) for creating "new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition"
The Nobel, one of the world's most prestigious and financially generous awards, comes with a prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, or just over $900,000. The literature prize is given for a lifetime of writing rather than for a single work, according to the [New York Times] (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature.html).
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Mr. Dylan's winning came as a surprise since his work does not fit into the literary benchmarks that the Swedish Academy has customarily recognized for years
The Academy's permanent secretary, Sara Danius, said Mr. Dylan, 75, "is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition." She drew parallels between his work and that of ancient Greek poets Homer and Sappho, according to [CNN] (http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/13/world/nobel-prize-literature/).
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His "constant reinvention of himself" made him the first American to win since the novelist Toni Morrison in 1993
The singer was actually nominated for the major $50,000 Neustadt International Prize for Literature earlier this year.
"If you look back, far back, 2,500 years or so, you discover Homer and Sappho and they wrote poetic texts that were meant to be listened to, that were meant to be performed, often with instruments — and it's the same way with Bob Dylan," said Danius.
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Bookmakers' favorites for 2016 included Syrian poet Adonis, Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, American novelist Philip Roth, and Japanese author Haruki Murakami
However, the actual list of nominees will be kept secret for 50 years according to [CNN] (http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/13/world/nobel-prize-literature/).
"**Mr. Dylan's work remains utterly lacking in conventionality, moral sleight of hand, pop pabulum or sops to his audience**," the former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman wrote in a 2013 [Op-Ed essay in The New York Times] (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/opinion/sunday/knock-knock-knockin-on-nobels-door.html) arguing for Dylan to get the award.
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The award must have been a surprise for many…
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A New Republic published an article a few days ago headlined, "[**Who Will Win the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature? Not Bob Dylan, that's for sure.**] (https://newrepublic.com/article/137496/will-win-2016-nobel-prize-literature)".
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44 years after since he released his first album, Bob Dylan, in 1962, he has explored rock and roll, folk, blues, and jazz and incorporated philosophical, political, and literary influences in his lyrics
Mr. Dylan grew up playing in bands as a teenager and has acknowledged being influenced by the poetry of Dylan Thomas and his musical idol, Woody Guthrie.
Mr. Dylan has sold more than 100 million record and has received the most coveted awards including 11 Grammy Awards, one Golden Globe Award, and one Academy Award
In 2008, he won the **Pulitzer Prize** for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power". In 2012, he received the **Presidential Medal of Freedom** from [President Barack Obama] (http://says.com/ph/news/duterte-to-obama-you-can-go-to-hell).
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