The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan
The Permanent Secretary
Press Release
13 October 2016
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016
Bob Dylan
“for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.
Biobibliographical Notes
Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. He grew up in a Jewish middle-class family in the city of Hibbing. As a teenager he played in various bands and with time his interest in music deepened, with a particular passion for American folk music and blues. One of his idols was the folk singer Woody Guthrie. He was also influenced by the early authors of the Beat Generation, as well as by modernist poets.
Dylan moved to New York City in 1961 and began to perform in clubs and cafés in Greenwich Village. He met the record producer John Hammond with whom he signed a contract for his debut album, Bob Dylan (1962). In the following years he recorded a number of albums which have had a tremendous impact on popular music: Bringing It All Back Home andHighway 61 Revisited in 1965, Blonde On Blonde in 1966 and Blood On The Tracks in 1975. His productivity continued in the following decades, resulting in masterpieces like Oh Mercy (1989), Time Out Of Mind (1997) and Modern Times (2006).
Dylan’s tours in 1965 and 1966 attracted a lot of attention. For a period he was accompanied by film maker D. A. Pennebaker, who documented life around the stage in what would come to be the movie Dont Look Back (1967). Dylan has recorded a large number of albums revolving around topics such as: the social conditions of man, religion, politics and love. The lyrics have continuously been published in new editions, under the title Lyrics. As an artist, he is strikingly versatile; he has been active as painter, actor and scriptwriter.
Besides his large production of albums, Dylan has published experimental work like Tarantula (1971) and the collection Writings and Drawings (1973). He has written an autobiography, Chronicles (2004), which depicts memories from the early years in New York and which provides glimpses of his life at the center of popular culture. Since the late 1980s, Bob Dylan has toured persistently, an undertaking called the “Never-Ending Tour”. Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound, and he is the object of a steady stream of secondary literature.
Bibliography – a selection
Works in English
Bob Dylan Song Book. – New York : M. Witmark, 1965
Bob Dylan Himself : His Words, His Music. – London : Duchess, 1965
Bob Dylan : A Collection. – New York : M. Witmark, 1966
Bob Dylan : The Original. – Warner Bros.- Seven Arts Music, 1968
Tarantula. – New York : Macmillan, 1971
Poem to Joanie / with an introduction by A. J. Weberman. – London : Aloes Seola, 1971
Writings and Drawings. – New York : Knopf, 1973
The Songs of Bob Dylan : From 1966 through 1975. – New York : Knopf, 1976
Lyrics, 1962–1985. – New York : Knopf, 1985
Bob Dylan Anthology. – New York : Amsco, 1990
Drawn Blank. – New York : Random House, 1994
Lyrics, 1962–1996. – New York : Villard, 1997
Lyrics, 1962–1999. – New York : Knopf, 1999
Man Gave Names to All the Animals / illustrated by Scott Menchin. – San Diego, Calif. : Harcourt Brace, 1999
The Definitive Bob Dylan Songbook. – New York : Amsco, 2001
Lyrics : 1962–2001. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2004
Chronicles : Volume One. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2004
Bob Dylan : The Drawn Blank Series / edited by Ingrid Mössinger and Kerstin Drechsel. – New York : Prestel, 2007
Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric : The Lost Manuscript / photographs by Barry Feinstein. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2008
Lyrics / edited by Heinrich Detering. – Stuttgart : Reclam, 2008
Forever Young / illustrated by Paul Rogers. – New York : Atheneum, 2008
Bob Dylan : The Brazil Series. – New York : Prestel, 2010
Man Gave Names to All the Animals / illustrated by Jim Arnosky. – New York : Sterling, 2010
Blowin’ in The Wind / illustrated by Jon J. Muth. – New York : Sterling, 2011
Bob Dylan : The Asia Series. – New York : Gagosian Gallery, 2011
Revisionist Art. – New York : Gagosian Gallery, 2012
Bob Dylan : Face Value / text by John Elderfield. – London : National Portrait Gallery, 2013
If Dogs Run Free / illustrated by Scott Campbell. – New York : Atheneum, 2013
The Lyrics : Since 1962 / edited by Christopher Ricks, Lisa Nemrow and Julie Nemrow. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2014
If Not for You / illustrated by David Walker . – New York : Atheneum, 2016
Albums
Bob Dylan (1962)
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)
Another Side Of Bob Dylan (1964)
Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Blonde On Blonde (1966)
Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (1967)
John Wesley Harding (1968)
Nashville Skyline (1969)
Self Portrait (1970)
New Morning (1970)
Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1971)
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid (1973)
Dylan (1973)
Planet Waves (1974)
Before The Flood (1974)
Blood On The Tracks (1975)
The Basement Tapes (1975)
Desire (1976)
Hard Rain (1976)
Street Legal (1978)
Bob Dylan At Budokan (1978)
Slow Train Coming (1979)
Saved (1980)
Shot Of Love (1981)
Infidels (1983)
Real Live (1984)
Empire Burlesque (1985)
Biograph (1985)
Knocked Out Loaded (1986)
Down In The Groove (1988)
Dylan & The Dead (1989)
Oh Mercy (1989)
Under The Red Sky (1990)
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1–3: Rare And Unreleased 1961–1991 (1991)
Good As I Been to You (1992)
World Gone Wrong (1993)
Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. 3 (1994)
MTV Unplugged (1995)
The Best Of Bob Dylan (1997)
The Songs Of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute (1997)
Time Out Of Mind (1997)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966: The ’Royal Albert Hall’ Concert(1998)
The Essential Bob Dylan (2000)
”Love And Theft” (2001)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5: Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue (2002)
Masked And Anonymous: The Soundtrack (2003)
Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs Of Bob Dylan (2003)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6: Live 1964: Concert At Philharmonic Hall (2004)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (2005)
Live At The Gaslight 1962 (2005)
Live At Carnegie Hall 1963 (2005)
Modern Times (2006)
The Traveling Wilburys Collection (2007)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare And Unreleased, 1989–2006(2008)
Together Through Life (2009)
Christmas In The Heart (2009)
The Original Mono Recordings (2010)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 (2010)
Good Rockin’ Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun (2011)
Timeless (2011)
Tempest (2012)
The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams (2011)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (2013)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete (2014)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 (2015)
Shadows In The Night (2015)
Fallen Angels (2016)
Films
Dont Look Back / D. A. Pennebaker, 1967
Eat the Document / D. A. Pennebaker, Howard Alk, Bob Dylan, 1971
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid / Sam Peckinpah, 1973
Renaldo & Clara / Bob Dylan, 1978
The Last Waltz / Martin Scorsese, 1978
Hard to Handle / Gillian Armstrong, 1986
Hearts of Fire / Richard Marquand, 1987
Masked and Anonymous / Larry Charles ; written by Bob Dylan and Larry Charles, 2003
No Direction Home / Martin Scorsese, 2005
I’m Not There / Todd Haynes, 2007
The Other Side of the Mirror : Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival,1963–1965. / Murray Lerner, 2007
Works in French
Tarantula / traduit de l’anglais par Dashiell Hedayat. – Paris : C. Bourgois, 1972. – Traduction de: Tarantula
Écrits et dessins : “mars 1962–décembre 1970″ / traduit de l’anglais par Robert Louit et Didier Pemerle. – Paris : Seghers, 1975. – Traduction de: Writings and Drawings
Tarantula / traduit de l’anglais par Daniel Bismuth. – Paris : Hachette, 2001. – Traduction de: Tarantula
Chroniques : volume I / traduit de l’anglais par Jean-Luc Piningre. – Paris : Fayard, 2005. – Traduction de: Chronicles : Volume One
Lyrics : chansons, 1962–2001 / traduit de l’anglais par Robert Louit et Didier Pemerle. – Paris : Fayard, 2008. – Traduction de: Lyrics, 1962-2001
Works in Spanish
Canciones / selección, traducción y prólogo de Eduardo Chamorro. – Madrid : Alberto Corazón, 1971
George Jackson y otras canciones / selección y traducción Antonio Resines. – Madrid : Alberto Corazón, 1972
Escritos, canciones y dibujos / traducción de Carlos Álvarez. – Madrid : R. Aguilera, 1975. – Título original: Writings and Drawings
Tarántula / traducción de Horacio Quinto. – Barcelona : Producciones Editoriales, 1976. – Título original: Tarantula
Canciones I / traducción de Carlos Álvarez. – Madrid : Fundamentos, 1984
Canciones II / traducción de Carlos Álvarez. – Madrid : Fundamentos, 1985
Bob Dylan : Greatest hits volume 3 : Unplugged / traducción de Alberto Manzano. – Madrid : Celeste, 1993
Tarántula / traducción de Ignacio Renom. – Madrid : Júcar, 1996. – Título original: Tarantula
Del huracán a las tierras altas : escritos y canciones, 1975–1997 / traducción de Antonio J. Iriarte y Francisco J. García Cubero. – Valencia : Mirada, 1999
Crónicas / traducción de Miquel Izquierdo. – Barcelona : Global Rhythm, 2005. – Título original: Chronicles : Volume One
Tarántula / traducción de Alberto Manzano. – Barcelona : Global Rhythm, 2007. – Título original: Tarantula
Bob Dylan : letras, 1962–2001 / traducción de Miquel Izquierdo y José Moreno. – Madrid : Global Rhythm : Alfaguara, 2007. – Título original: Lyrics : 1962-2001
Fotorretórica de Hollywood : el manuscrito perdido / fotografías de Barry Feinstein ; traducción de Miquel Izquierdo. – Barcelona : Global Rhythm, 2009. – Título original: Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric
Works in Swedish
Bob Dylan / översättning av Bruno K. Öijer och Eric Fylkeson ; illustrationer av Leif Elggren. – Stockholm : Poesiförlaget i samarbete med Cavefors, 1975
Tarantula / översättning av Görgen Antonsson. – Borås : Galder, 1981. – Originalets titel: Tarantula
Tarantula / översättning av Görgen Antonsson ; efterord av Peter Glas ; afterword by Peter Glas. – Lund : Bakhåll, 1999. – Originalets titel: Tarantula
Memoarer. D. 1 / översättning av Mats Gellerfelt. – Stockholm : Prisma, 2004. – Originalets titel: Chronicles : Volume One
Works in German
Texte und Zeichnungen / übersetzt von Carl Weissner. – Frankfurt am Main : Zweitausendeins, 1975. – Originaltitel: Writings and Drawings
Tarantel = Tarantula / übersetzt von Carl Weissner. – Frankfurt am Main : Zweitausendeins, 1976. – Originaltitel: Tarantula
Songtexte : 1962–1985 / übersetzt von Carl Weissner und Walter Hartmann. – Frankfurt am Main : Zweitausendeins, 1987. – Originaltitel: Lyrics 1962-1985
Tarantel / übersetzt von Carl Weissner ; herausgegeben von Wolfgang Smejkal. – St. Andrä-Wördern : Hannibal, 1995. – Originaltitel: Tarantula
Lyrics : 1962–2001 / übersetzt von Gisbert Haefs. – Hamburg : Hoffmann und Campe, 2004. – Originaltitel: Lyrics : 1962 – 2001
Chronicles. Vol. 1 / übersetzt von Kathrin Passig und Gerhard Henschel. – Hamburg : Hoffmann und Campe, 2004. – Originaltitel: Chronicles : Volume One
Lyrics / herausgegeben von Heinrich Detering. – Stuttgart : Reclam, 2008
Further reading
All Across the Telegraph : A Bob Dylan Handbook / edited by Michael Gray and John Bauldie. – London : Sidgwick & Jackson, 1987
Baez, Joan, And a Voice to Sing With : A Memoir. – New York : Summit, 1987
Bauldie, John, Wanted Man : In Search of Bob Dylan. – London : Black Spring Press, 1990
Bob Dylan : Dont Look Back : A Film and Book by D. A. Pennebaker. – New York : Ballantine, 1968
Bob Dylan : ein Kongreß ; Ergebnisse des Internationalen Bob Dylan-Kongresses 2006 in Frankfurt am Main / herausgegeben von Axel Honneth … – Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp, 2007
Bob Dylan : A Retrospective / edited by Craig MacGregor. – New York : William Morrow, 1972
The Bob Dylan Companion: Four Decades of Commentary / edited by Carl Benson. – New York : Schirmer, 1998
Bob Dylan In His Own Words / compiled by Barry Miles ; edited by Pearce Marchbanks. – New York : Quick Fox, 1978
Braad Thomsen, Christian & Schnack, Asger, Bob Dylan : en guide til hans plader. – København : Høst & Søn, 1998
Bream, Jon, Dylan Disc by Disc. / introductions to the albums and liner notes by Richie Unterberger. – Minneapolis : Voyageur Press, 2015
The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan / edited by Kevin J. H. Dettmar. – Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2009
Dalton, David, Det är inte mig ni söker : jakten på Bob Dylan / översättning av Christian Ekvall. – Västerås : Ica, 2013. Orig. titel: Who Is That Man?
Detering, Heinrich, Bob Dylan / översättning av Jim Jakobsson. – Göteborg : Daidalos, 2008
Detering, Heinrich, Die Stimmen aus der Unterwelt : Bob Dylans Mysterienspiele. – München : Beck, 2016
Do You Mr Jones? : Bob Dylan with the Poets and Professors / edited by Neil Corcoran. – London : Chatto & Windus, 2002
Dylan, Bob, Younger Than That Now : The Collected Interviews with Bob Dylan. – New York : Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2004
Dylan on Dylan : The Essential Interviews / edited by Jonathan Cott. – London : Hodder & Stoughton, 2006
Dylan par Dylan : interviews 1962–2004 / édition établie par Jonathan Cott ; traduit de l’anglais par Denis Griesmar. – Paris : Bartillat, 2007. – Traduction de: Bob Dylan : The Essential Interviews
Dylan sobre Dylan : 31 entrevistas memorables / edición a cargo de Jonathan Cott ; traducción de Miquel Izquierdo. – Barcelona : Global Rhythm, 2008. – Traducción de: Dylan on Dylan : The Essential Interviews
Gray, Michael, The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. – New York : Continuum, 2006 ; updated and revised version, 2008
Gray, Michael, Song and Dance Man III : The Art of Bob Dylan. – London : Cassell, 2000 [Revised version of: Song & Dance Man : The Art of Bob Dylan. – London : Hart-Davis, MacGibbon, 1972]
Harvey, Todd, The Formative Dylan : Transmission and Stylistic Influences 1961–1963. – Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2001
Havers, Franz W., Bob Dylans surrealistische Songpoesie ; Thesis. – Frankfurt am Main : P. Lang, 1986
Heylin, Clinton, Behind the Shades Revisited. – New York : William Morrow, 2001
Heylin, Clinton, Bob Dylan : Behind the Shades : A Biography. – New York : Summit, 1991
Heylin, Clinton, Bob Dylan : A Life in Stolen Moments : Day by Day 1941–1995. – New York : Schirmer, 1996
Heylin, Clinton, Bob Dylan : The Recording Sessions 1960–1994. – New York : St. Martin’s Press, 1995
Heylin, Clinton, Dylan : Mannen, myten, musiken : En biografi / översättning av Håkan Olsson. – Lund : Wiken, 1993. – Originaltitel : Dylan : Behind the Shades
Heylin, Clinton, Revolution in the Air : The Songs of Bob Dylan 1957–1973. – Chicago IL. : Chicago Review Press, 2009
Heylin, Clinton, Still on the Road : The Songs of Bob Dylan 1974–2006. – Chicago, IL. : Chicago Review Press, 2010
Holmgren, Ola, Stickspår : Åtta skäl varför Bob Dylan borde tilldelas Nobelpriset i litteratur. – Stockholm : Carlsson, 2016
Holmquist, Göran, Bob Dylan på svenska : Bob Dylans betydelse för svensk musik & litteratur : en studie. – Gammelstad : Hjärnstorm, 1982
Holmquist, Göran, Visa oss vinden! : Bob Dylan i Sverige. – Stockholm : Premium, 2002
Jacobsson, Mats, Dylan i 60–talet : tematiken i Bob Dylans sångtexter och dikter 1961–67. – Lund : Ellerström, 2004
Jørgensen, Karsten, Bob Dylan lexikon / översättning av Thomas Nydahl. – Kristianstad : Accent, 2003. – Originaltitel: Bob Dylan leksikon
Marcus, Greil, Invisible Republic : Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes. – New York : H. Holt & Co, 1997
Marcus, Greil, Like a Rolling Stone : Bob Dylan at the Crossroads. – London : Faber & Faber, 2006
Margotin, Philippe & Jean-Michel Guesdon, Bob Dylan : la totale : les 492 chansons expliquées. – Vanves : Chêne, 2015
Marshall, Lee, Bob Dylan : The Never Ending Star. – Cambridge : Polity, 2007
Medcalf, Lawrence Donald, The Rhetoric of Bob Dylan, 1963–1966 ; Thesis. – Indiana University, 1978
Myhr, Petter Fiskum, Bob Dylan : jeg er en annan. – Oslo : Historie & Kultur, 2011
Refractions of Bob Dylan : Cultural Appropriations of an American Icon / edited by Eugen Banauch. – Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2015
Rem, Håvard, Bob Dylan. – Oslo : Gyldendal, 1999
Ricks, Christopher B., Dylan’s Visions of Sin. – London : Viking, 2003
Santelli, Robert, The Bob Dylan Scrapbook : 1956–1966. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2005
Scaduto, Anthony, Bob Dylan. – New York : Grosset & Dunlap, 1971
Schmidt, Mathias R., Bob Dylans message songs der Sechziger Jahre und die anglo-amerikanische Tradition des sozialkritischen Liedes ; Thesis. – Frankfurt am Main : P. Lang, 1982
Scobie, Stephen, Alias Bob Dylan. – Red Deer, Alta. : Red Deer College Press, 1991
Scobie, Stephen, Alias Bob Dylan revisited. – Calgary : Red Deer Press, 2003
Shelton, Robert, No Direction Home : The Life and Music of Bob Dylan. – New York : Beech Tree, 1986 ; revised edition: Milwaukee : Backbeat, 2011
Snow, Craig R., Folksinger and Beat Poet : The Prophetic Vision of Bob Dylan ; Thesis. – Purdue University, 1987
Sounes, Howard, Down the Highway : The Life of Bob Dylan.– New York : Grove Press, 2001 ; updated edition 2011
Sounes, Howard, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan : biografin / översättning av Hans Björkegren. – Stockholm : Norstedt, 2001. – Orig. titel: Down the Highway :The Life of Bob Dylan
Spitz, Bob, Dylan : A Biography. – New York : McGraw-Hill, 1989
Tang, Jesper, Bob Dylan smiler!.– København : Borgen, 1972
Taylor, Jeff & Israelson, Chad, The Political World of Bob Dylan : Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin. – New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015
Trager, Oliver, Keys to the Rain : The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. – New York : Billboard, 2004
Wilentz, Sean, Bob Dylan in America. – New York : Doubleday, 2010
Williams, Paul, Performing Artist : The Music of Bob Dylan. – Novato, Calif. : Underwood-Miller, 1990
Williams, Paul, Performing Artist 1960–1973 : The Early Years. – Novato, Calif. : Underwood-Miller, 1991
Williams, Paul, Performing Artist 1974–1986 : The Middle Years. – Novato, Calif. : Underwood-Miller, 1992
Williams, Paul, Performing Artist 1986–1990 & Beyond : Mind Out Of Time. – London : Omnibus, 2004
Wissolik, Richard David, McGrath, Scott & Colaianne, A. J., Bob Dylan’s Words :A Critical Dictionary and Commentary. – Greensburg, PA : Eadmer Press, 1994
Yaffe, David, Bob Dylan : Like a Complete Unknown. – London : Yale University Press, 2011
Young, Izzy, The Conscience of the Folk Revival : The Writings of Israel ”Izzy” Young / edited by Scott Barretta. – Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2013
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