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Not knocking on Nobel's door

Bob Dylan will NOT attend to Nobel prize ceremony to accept Literature award

BOB Dylan will not attend the Nobel prize ceremony to accept his award.

The 75-year-old singer-songwriter has told the Swedish Academy he has other commitments.

 Thinking twice not alright . . . Bob Dylan took time to acknowledge the award
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Thinking twice not alright . . . Bob Dylan took time to acknowledge the awardCredit: Getty Images - WireImage

He was named winner of the literature prize in October but was slow to acknowledge it — with a committee member branding him “arrogant”.

American Dylan later said the award had left him “speechless”.

 Like a rolling stone . . . Dylan later described receiving the award as 'incredible'
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Like a rolling stone . . . Dylan later described receiving the award as 'incredible'Credit: Reuters

In an interview with the Telegraph the musician said receiving the award was “amazing [and] incredible.”

He then said that he would go to the ceremony "if it’s at all possible."

A statement said: “He wishes he could receive the prize personally.

“But other commitments make it unfortunately impossible.”

 The times are a changin' . . . Bob Dylan in his early days
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The times are a changin' . . . Bob Dylan in his early daysCredit: PA:Press Association

The Academy said it respected the decision but added it was “unusual” for a laureate not to turn up.

In 2008 he became the first rock musician ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2012.

 Dylan was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2008
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Dylan was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2008Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

Dylan – who took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas – had been mentioned in the Nobel speculation for years.

He is also the first American to win since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993.

The ceremony is in Stockholm on December 10.

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