Nobel academy member slams ‘arrogant’ Bob Dylan

Per Wastberg says the singer-songwriter’s lack of response to numerous phone calls is “impolite”

Bob Dylan.

A prominent member of the academy which awards the Nobel literature prize has slammed this year’s laureate Bob Dylan as “arrogant”, citing his total silence since the award was announced last week.

The U.S. singer-songwriter has not responded to repeated phone calls from the Swedish Academy, nor reacted in any way in public to the news.

“It’s impolite and arrogant,” said the academy member, Swedish writer Per Wastberg, in comments aired on SVT public television.

On the evening of October 13, the day the literature prize winner was announced, Dylan played a concert in Las Vegas during which he just sang his songs and made no comment at all to his fans.

He ended the concert with a version of the Frank Sinatra hit “Why Try To Change Me Now?”, taken to be a nod towards his long-standing aversion to the media.

Ceremony on Dec. 10

Every December 10, Nobel prize winners are invited to Stockholm to receive their awards from King Carl XVI Gustaf and give a speech during a banquet. The Swedish Academy still does not know if Mr. Dylan plans to come. Anders Barany, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, recalled that Albert Einstein snubbed the academy after being awarded the physics prize in 1921.

In 1964, French writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre refused the literature prize outright.