Bob Dylan is 'sorry' he didn't show up to accept the Nobel prize

Bob Dylan says he has been so immersed in his life's work that he's never stopped to wonder whether it was literature. Photo / AP

In his illustrious career, Bob Dylan has appeared at the Grammys, the Golden Globes, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the MusiCares Person of the Year awards, the Kennedy Centre Honours, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Critics' Choice Awards.

But when it came to accepting perhaps the highest honour of all - the Nobel Prize - Dylan was a no-show.

He had "pre-existing commitments". The elusive songwriter had for weeks dodged calls from the Swedish Academy informing him of the award, to the point that the Nobel committee's chairman called him "impolite and arrogant". When it finally reached him, Dylan still wouldn't commit to attending the formal acceptance ceremony. Finally, a few weeks before the event, the Swedish Academy informed the public that Dylan wouldn't be in attendance. He was busy.

Some wondered whether the unpredictable performer would make a surprise appearance. But come Saturday, there was no Dylan. Only a note.

"I'm sorry I can't be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honoured to be receiving such a prestigious prize," it said.

Azita Raji, the US ambassador to Sweden, read the heartfelt message from Dylan aloud. "If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the moon," Dylan said.

His note alluded to the question many asked: Are Dylan's songs literature? This was the first time a musician was awarded this prize. It was a bit of a risk for the committee - and probably why its members were all the more miffed that Dylan didn't seem to care. But the musician explained in his letter that he needed "more than a few minutes to properly process it". He has spent so much of his life pursuing his work "and dealing with all aspects of life's mundane matters" that he never stopped to consider whether his songs were literature.

"So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer," the letter concluded.

Dylan is not the first to refuse to accept his award in person. Novelist Doris Lessing and playwright Elfriede Jelinek are among those who declined to attend the ceremony saluting their work.

But there is one obligation that the academy's members expect Dylan to fulfil.

"We look forward to Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture, which he must give ... [within six months from December 10, 2016]," the release said. Dylan is yet to say if he'll comply.