Sorry, Nobel Committee. Bob Dylan is a Not Taking Your Calls Right Now.

Image by Getty Images

By Thea Glassman October 17, 2016

If Bob Dylan is at all excited about winning a Nobel prize in literature, he’s playing it very close to the vest.

The 75-year-old musician has yet to respond to phone calls from the Nobel Committee, nor has he RSVP-ed to the prize winner’s banquet in Stockholm, the Guardian reports.

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

Danius added that there will not be hurt feelings if he chooses to skip out.

“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,” she said.

While Dylan has yet to publicly discuss his award, the general internet community has eagerly jumped on board to express some, often baffled, opinions of their own.

this recent bob dylan news has prompted at least 20 high school english teachers to wonder why they ever quit their college band

— mitski (@mitskileaks) October 14, 2016

If they don’t give the Nobel to Kendrick in 2030 there will be trouble

— Hari Kunzru (@harikunzru) October 13, 2016

I’m sorry but this is total bullshit (spare me the hate emails) https://t.co/P2RfykTNom

— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) October 13, 2016

Woke up to he news that #bobdylan won the @NobelPrize in literature. Few writers have seen their work have a greater influence. Let’s party

— David Korins (@DavidKorins) October 13, 2016

Dylan is the first American to win the award in literature since 1993. He is the first musician to win the award since 1901.

To Leonard Cohen, his friend and fellow songwriter, the honor is actually pretty unsurprising.

“I will comment on his receiving the Nobel Prize, which to me is like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain,” he said.

Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.

Thea Glassman was an associate editor for the Forward. Follow her on twitter @theakglassman.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO