Calling Bob Dylan. Calling Bob Dylan. Uh, hello? Bob? Mr. Dylan, sir? You’re on in …. wow, man, you’re missing your cue altogether. What’s the deal there, buddy?
Legendary folk music artist and song writer Bob Dylan, 75, has still not responded to calls from the Royal Swedish Academy, telling him that he has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Nor has he mentioned the honor even once before, during or after several performances he’s played, in the nearly two weeks since.
One might wonder if the prize will be revoked, given the discourteous behavior of the world-renowned performer.
But the Nobel Prize Committee and its foundation are made of sterner stuff. Apparently, one cannot refuse the title, although one can certainly refuse the prize money – a check for $900,000. The statues of the Nobel Foundation state that Nobel Prizes cannot ever be returned or rescinded.
Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, calmly told The Telegraph last week that whether Dylan attends the award ceremony, or acknowledges his receipt of the honor, is irrelevant. “If he doesn’t want to come, he won’t come,” she told the site. “It will be a big party in any case and the honor belongs to him.”
Danius told Sweden’s state radio station, SR: “Right now we are doing nothing. I have called and sent emails to his closest collaborator and received very friendly replies. For now, that is certainly enough.”
Sweden’s King Carl Gustav is expecting to present the performer with the Nobel Prize at the awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on December 10 – if the musician attends. It won’t be a total surprise if he is a no-show, however: Dylan has been rude before, skipping a ceremony at the White House in 2010 where he was to receive the National Medal for the Arts, and skipping a similar award from the Crown Prince of Spain in 2007.
Dylan apparently did decide in 2012, however, that it was important enough to show up at the White House to allow U.S. President Barack Obama to present him with the presidential medal of freedom.
As for the Nobel awards ceremony, Danius is still optimistic, telling media: “I am not at all worried. I think he will show up.”