It looks like Bob Dylan isn’t going to completely stiff the Swedish Academy. After opting not to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony on December 10 — Patti Smith played in his stead — Dylan has scheduled several tour dates in Sweden next spring.
One of the few requirements that the Nobel Prize has of its winners is to hold a lecture within six months of their prize being awarded. These three April dates would fall within that timeframe. Tellingly, two of the dates are back to back in Stockholm on April 1 and 2. Though the lecture does not have to be delivered in Stockholm, it is traditionally where the lectures are given, as its the home of the prize ceremony.
For a bit of a preview of what Dylan’s Nobel lecture might sound like, check out the speech that he sent to the ceremony this weekend. Though he decided not to show up to the banquet, Dylan’s words made him seemed humbled by the honor.
If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon,” he wrote. “In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn’t anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.”
According to Swedish Academy Secretary Sara Danius, who spoke to Reuters, no details about the lecture have been confirmed.
