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By Jodie Shull
Last night, after a long day of seeing not a scrap of news, I tumbled into bed to catch up. I started to nod off to the usual presidential campaign horrors when the script along the bottom of the TV screen caught my eye. Bob Dylan had won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I bolted up, “What the bleep??” It’s not that I wasn’t thrilled. I was stunned that the blue-eyed boy, vagabond, troubadour, ragamuffin poet from the Rust Belt, beloved voice of my youth had been so recognized. The Nobel Prize for Literature is generally given to someone I have never heard of, often because their works have not been readily available in English, my only lingo. Bob Dylan? I imagine there will be quite a stir in the world literature realm. Dylan is a songwriter. I don’t believe he writes sonnets. Strange enough, I had just read David Remnick’s wonderful profile in The New Yorker about Leonard Cohen in which Bob Dylan is a featured speaker. Dylan and Cohen are colleagues, dueling bards, who love one another’s work as they ponder the mysterious sources of their creativity. There will be a flood of pondering going on as this award is discussed and dissected by the cultural media in the coming days and weeks. I love it! Here’s what NPR says, “The prolific musician is the first Nobel winner to have forged a career primarily as a singer-songwriter….Dylan earned the prize ‘for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,’ according to the citation by the Swedish Academy….” What fun it is going to be to read all of this critique about someone so close to home whose work I am familiar with. The Swedish Academy has just blown the doors off the Tower of Song. Some may be dismayed that the unwashed phenomenon has been tapped for this award. To all poets who have labored on the traditional path: let not your hearts be troubled. This could be a fabulous boon to the fortunes of poets everywhere, attracting interest, discussion, and hope to the art. Will Dylan sing his acceptance speech?
5 Comments
Jessi Fernandez
10/27/2016 01:18:48 pm
This was very interesting to read I very much liked it because I use to listen to Bob Dylan in High School in my art class. My art teacher was so fascinated by him that when we would draw he would play his music. It is amazing he won a Noble Prize for Literature.
Elvis G.
10/31/2016 10:05:42 am
Bob Dylan receiving a Nobel Prize, that is really awesome. I always thought the Nobel Prizes where awarded to scholarly papers, but to here a musician can also received one, that is awesome. Way to go Dylan.
Eduardo L.
10/31/2016 01:02:39 pm
That is insane I listened to him before and I wouldn't have thought that he would win a noble prize for being such a huge "new poetic expressions." That is a huge change in Literature.
Paulo L
10/31/2016 11:01:51 pm
This is quite a surprise, but a welcomed one. Though I am not a fan of Mr. Dylan, I am familiar with his work and know the significance of his music. Congratulations to him, and as you state hopefully this leads to more poets being recognized for their work.
Angel L.
11/3/2016 04:23:51 pm
To be honest, I'm not very familiar with Bob Dylan but I did end up googling some of his work and I love that you used one of his songs as the title! How fitting! Although I'm sure there are many people who oppose the idea of Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, I think that it definitely breaks a lot of boundaries that we unconsciously place on things such as the Nobel Prize and that in itself is exciting too! Cheers to that! Leave a Reply. |
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