This morning, Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."
Dylan's win comes as a surprise to many, since the singer-songwriter does not fit the "normal" criteria for the prize. Most past winners have been writers of novels, poetry and short stories, such as literary royalty like Rudyard Kipling, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck.
"The times they are a'changing, perhaps," said Sara Danius, the secretary of the Swedish Academy. “Of course he [deserves] it -- he’s just got it. He’s a great poet in the English-speaking tradition. And he is a wonderful sampler, a very original sampler. He embodies the tradition and for 54 years now he has been at it, reinventing himself constantly, creating a new identity.”
The 75-year-old is the first American to win the Nobel Prize in literature since author Toni Morrison won in 1993.
Obviously, the internet has mixed reviews on the prize going to a musician. Some tweets were supportive:
Others thought one of the other nominees may have been more deserving:
Either way, a huge congrats are in order for the rock legend; in the prize's 112 years, no songwriter has ever won the award.