He’s really not there.
Yesterday morning (Oct. 13), American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel prize in literature, and a day later the Swedish Academy has yet to speak to the musician.
Odd Zschiedrich, from the office of the academy, tells the AFP the group has spoken to his agent and tour manager, but hasn’t heard a peep yet from Dylan, who played a concert last night in Las Vegas. According to the Guardian, he was no more partial to bantering on stage than he normally is—which is to say, not at all.
The Washington Post also reported:
Dylan remained silent throughout the day about the award. His longtime friend, folk singer and artist Bob Neuwirth didn’t expect he would be tweeting out his excitement.
Indeed since the prize was announced, Dylan’s dry, strictly promotional official Twitter account has tweeted one notice about it and retweeted one expression of excitement from someone else—longtime fan and US president Barack Obama, who notes that true to form Dylan once stood him up for a photo op.
In 2007, Doris Lessing similarly did not give a damn. When reporters showed up to tell her she won the prize, she muttered, “Oh, Christ!” and did her best to wave them off.