Crews painting the Bob Dylan mural in downtown Minneapolis (August 2015 photo)
Minnesota native Bob Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature today and though he won’t be in Stockholm to accept it personally, that’s not stopping Minnesotans from celebrating. Governor Mark Dayton has proclaimed it “Bob Dylan Day” and he’ll be in Hibbing, where the bashful star was raised. Dayton says Dylan, who’s now 75, was a “true son of the Iron Range” and spoke to a generation engaged in an unending war in Vietnam, the fight for civil rights, and rapid changes in society. He says “Dylan’s influence on American music and culture will be long-lasting.” Minnesotan Sinclair Lewis won the Literature Prize in 1930, but this is the first time a songwriter has been so honored.
The Swedish Academy says Dylan “wishes he could receive the prize personally, but other commitments make it unfortunately impossible.” The Academy says the decision is “unusual but not exceptional.”