Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature eight days ago. Since then, nearly everyone in the world has weighed in on the surprising decision, but Dylan himself has stayed quiet. After trying to get in touch with him and his managers for a few days, the Swedish Academy gave up, though it reportedly remains confident that he’ll show up to accept the prize in December.
On Thursday, though, Dylan seemed to inch closer to acknowledging that the Nobel Prize in Literature exists and that he won it—his website added the all-caps addendum WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE to a page about his upcoming book of lyrics. But that addition seems to have been done in error—it was taken down on Friday, presumably at the behest of Dylan or his management. (Dylan’s website is managed by Sony Music, his record label.)
So what does it all mean? Dylan loves playing coy, so who knows. But it’s pretty obvious that he’s having a laugh at the Swedish Academy’s expense. The Academy’s belief that Dylan will come to Stockholm and play nice in two months doesn’t seem to be based on anything. The safe money now, at least, is on Dylan never acknowledging the prize, which would be an oddly fitting response. But then again, I said that Dylan would never win the Nobel Prize in Literature in the first place, so what do I know?