Nobel Academy Member Says Bob Dylan’s Nonresponse to Prize Is ‘Arrogant’

Per Wastberg, a member of the Swedish Academy that selected Bob Dylan as the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature, has slammed Dylan for not commenting on the award. “One can say that it is impolite and arrogant. He is who he is,” Wastberg was cited as saying in the Saturday edition of Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. The academy has repeatedly tried to get in touch with the 75-year-old legend, but with no luck. Dylan was announced as the winner on Oct. 13 and, apart from a brief mention of the prize on his official Twitter and Facebook accounts, Dylan has yet to comment on the prize or get back to the academy. Despite his criticism, Wastberg said the academy still hopes to get in touch with Dylan before the official ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10. Dylan was chosen for his “new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”