THE SWEDISH ACADEMY says it has given up trying to reach Bob Dylan, days after it awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“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,” the academy’s permanent secretary, Sara Danius, told state radio SR.

So far the American troubadour has responded with silence since he won the prize on Thursday last.

He gave a concert in Las Vegas that very night, but made no mention of the accolade.

So – as 1965 Dylan song put it – how does it feel?

“I am not at all worried,” said Danius.

I think he will show up.

Every 10 December, Nobel prize winners are invited to Stockholm to receive their awards from King Carl XVI Gustaf and to give a speech during a banquet.

The Swedish Academy still does not know if Dylan plans to come to the event.

“If he doesn’t want to come, he won’t come. It will be a big party in any case and the honour belongs to him,” said Danius.

Dylan, 75, whose lyrics have influenced generations of fans, is the first songwriter to win the literature prize.

Other contenders for this year’s prize included Salman Rushdie, Adonis and Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

- © AFP, 2016

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