Finally! Dylan tells Swedish Academy he accepts Nobel Prize

COPENHAGEN - Bob Dylan has accepted the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature, the Swedish Academy said, adding that getting the prestigious award left him “speechless.” The academy’s permanent secretary, Sara Danius, said Dylan himself contacted them and said “of course” he would accept the prize. Danius told Sweden’s TT news agency that Dylan called her Tuesday evening and they spoke for about 15 minutes. “The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless,” Dylan told Danius, according to a statement posted Saturday on the academy’s website. “I appreciate the honor so much.” It has not yet been decided whether Dylan will attend any Nobel events in Stockholm in December, Danius said. In an interview with British newspaper The Telegraph posted Saturday, Dylan was quoted as saying he “absolutely” wants to attend the Dec. 10 prize ceremony, “if it’s at all possible.” Danius said the academy will do “all it can” to have a schedule suiting Dylan if he wants to come to Stockholm, according to TT. The 75-year-old singer-songwriter was awarded the prize on Oct. 13 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Dylan at first was silent after the announcement, and a member of the Swedish Academy called the silence “impolite and arrogant.” - AP