Bob Dylan Receives the Noble Prize -- Hooray!!!

Today Bob Dylan received the Noble Prize for literature. That is great news. No one deserves it more. My view of Dylan is that he is one of the greatest English language poets of the post WW II era. There are articles from the New York Times, the Guardian, and a fascinating interview about Dylan at Reason magazine; and many other online posts as well.

On a personal note, Dylan has been, and remains, a primary source of inspiration for my own poetry. Dylan's skill with rhyme, his ability to use a vast treasure trove of images in ways that are both familiar and unusual, his commitment to his singular vision, the way he skirts the edge of surrealism and comprehensibility, and many other aspects of his work have helped me immensely. I know others have been equally inspired.

In the Reason interview they refer to Dylan as the Shakespeare of our time. And the NYT compared him to Homer. That is amazing, but I don't think it is an exaggeration. Time will tell, of course, but personally I think there is no greater living poet in the English speaking world at this time.

Congratulations to Dylan and to the Noble Committee!!! A fine choice!!!

For winning the Nobel prize for literature ..
Well deserved, don't you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYajHZ4QUVM

Yes, I think it is richly deserved and very welcome. I have noticed that there are some in the literary community who are not thrilled about this, some are even angry about this. They say Dylan is a musician rather than someone engaged with literature. That strikes me as one of those academic distinctions that has not actual content. Homer was sung; that is to say the Illiad and the Odysey were presented with musical accompaniment and sung by bards. Many hymns have become poems, and many poems have become beloved songs. I see the relationship between poetry and lyrics as porous. I like to put it this way: a poem is a song waiting to be sung, and a song is a poem waiting to be spoken.

Incidentally, it's Nobel Prize -- which is certainly noble, but I thought I should post this correction. My bad.