Bob Dylan Announces Sweden Concerts Following Nobel Prize
Two days after Bob Dylan missed the ceremony in which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the singer announced he will play three Sweden shows on his European tour. The new Nobel laureate will perform at the Stockholm Waterfront on April 1st and 2nd and in Lund on April 9th at Sparbanken Skane Arena.
A requisite of the Nobel honor is that laureates must deliver a lecture about their field of expertise within six months of the distinction. After Dylan announced that he would not attend the Nobel gala, the Swedish Academy said they were hopeful that Dylan’s lecture would take place when his European tour stopped through Sweden.
“There is a chance that Bob Dylan … will have a perfect opportunity to deliver his lecture,” the Swedish Academy said in November. If Dylan delivers a lecture, he’ll receive the $870,000 prize that comes with winning a Nobel Prize. However, Dylan has not made any statement about giving a lecture yet.
During Saturday’s Nobel ceremony in Stockholm, Dylan sent a “speech of thanks” that was read by Azita Raji, the U.S. ambassador to Sweden. “I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize,” Dylan wrote.
“Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I’ve been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.”