Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman) won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

The Literature category was the last category awarded this year by the Nobel committee. The move was a surprise, as its the first time the prize was given to someone primarily noted as a musician as opposed to a writer, though without a doubt, Dylan's lyrics count as poetry.

There have been 15 Jewish Nobel Prize Laureates in the Literature category, including Isaac Bashevis Singer, Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Boris Pasternak. Jews make up 13% of the prize winners in Literature and 33% of the US winners.

In May 2012, Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.