Nobel Academy Member: Dylan Is 'Impolite and Arrogant'

The musician still hasn't publicly responded to winning the Nobel Prize
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 22, 2016 12:04 PM CDT
Nobel Academy Member: Bob Dylan Is 'Impolite and Arrogant'
Member of Nobel Prize academy says Bob Dylan is being "arrogant."   (AP Photo/David Vincent, File)

Bob Dylan still hasn't acknowledged being given the Nobel Prize for literature, and it sounds like some members of the academy behind the prize are starting to get a bit fed up, the Guardian reports. "It's impolite and arrogant," says writer Per Wastberg, a member of the Swedish Academy. Regardless, the academy isn't surprised by Dylan's behavior, according to the BBC. "We were aware that he can be difficult and that he does not like appearances when he stands alone on the stage," Wastberg says. "He is who he is," the AP quotes the writer as saying. And its sounds like the Swedish Academy is just about done worrying about it. "We have agreed not to lift a finger," Wastberg says. "The ball lies entirely on his half."

Dylan was given the Nobel Prize for literature—the first musician to win it in 115 years—on Oct. 13. He played a concert that night and didn't mention it. He's continued not mentioning it—or responding to calls from the Swedish Academy—since then. The academy has no idea if he'll show up to accept the honor in December. But there will be a ceremony celebrating his career regardless. Only two winners have ever turned down the Nobel Prize in literature: French writer Jean-Paul Sartre in 1964 because he turned down all honors and Boris Pasternak in 1958 because the Soviet government pressured him to do so. In 2007, author Doris Lessing wasn't exactly happy to hear she won, responding to the news with "Oh Christ." (More Bob Dylan stories.)

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