Freewheelin'

Bob Dylan Enters American Academy of Arts and Letters

First rock musician voted in.

What do Bob Dylan, South African author Damon Galgut, Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, and Belgian artist Luc Tuymans have in common? They are all new honorary members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a body often described as stuffy. Dylan became the first rock musician in the academy, which was founded in 1898. There are 250 sitting members of the body—apart from honorary ones, like Dylan—and they are voted in only after a sitting member dies. This year's new sitting members are: writer Ward Just, minimalist artist Richard Tuttle, and painter Terry Winters. The academy also announced its fellowships and awards Wednesday. The John Updike Award for a mid-career writer of excellence went to Jennifer Egan, and the E.M. Forster Award that allows a young British or Irish writer to stay in the U.S. went to poet/novelist Adam Foulds. Arts and Letters Awards in Literature went to Katherine Boo, Joanna Klink, playwright Neil LaBute, Bill McKibben, Bruce Norris, Darryl Pinckney, poet D.A. Powell, and Brad Watson. The Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction went to Kevin Powers, and Lydia Davis won the Award of Merit Medal for outstanding short-story writing. And that's just a partial list.