--- title: Bob Dylan: Read Nobel Prize Interview Quotes description: Bob Dylan has finally addressed his Nobel Prize for literature in his own time. canonical: https://time.com/4550250/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-interview/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-28T22:03:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:38:11.270Z og:title: Bob Dylan Breaks Silence on His Nobel Prize: 'It's Hard to Believe' og:description: Answer no longer blowing in the wind, friends og:url: https://time.com/4550250/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a55cbbbbdb66b0a/6988ac16ab6d7742786abc02/bob-dylan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Late Show with David Letterman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bob Dylan Breaks Silence on His Nobel Prize: 'It's Hard to Believe' twitter:description: Answer no longer blowing in the wind, friends twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a55cbbbbdb66b0a/6988ac16ab6d7742786abc02/bob-dylan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bob Dylan Breaks Silence on His Nobel Prize: 'It's Hard to Believe' by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Oct 28, 2016 10:03 PM UTC  Bob Dylan performs on the Late Show with David Letterman in New York on May 19, 2015. Bob Dylan performs on the Late Show with David Letterman in New York on May 19, 2015.Jeffrey R. Staab—CBS/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Oct 28, 2016 10:03 PM UTC After 15 days of an apparent silent treatment, [Bob Dylan](http://time.com/4529524/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature-reaction/) has made his first public statements about winning the [Nobel Prize for Literature](http://time.com/4529418/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature/). “It’s hard to believe, amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?” Dylan told [_The Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/world-exclusive-bob-dylan---ill-be-at-the-nobel-prize-ceremony-i/) in his first interview since the Swedish Academy announced the honor on Oct. 13\. Dylan was recognized for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” The [award briefly got some airtime](http://time.com/4540379/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-website/) on his website before it was [quickly removed](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/21/bob-dylan-unacknowledges-nobel-prize-literature-win-removed-website), and the musician famously shuns media, but he made an exception for this. “If I accept the prize? Of course,” Dylan said, according to a [Nobel Prize news release](http://www.nobelprize.org/press/#/publication/5813bb6c3f5fa7030006bb32/552bd85dccc8e20c00e7f979?&sh=false). “The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless. I appreciate the honor so much,” he told Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy. The prestigious honor’s unlikely recipient seemed to [splinter the internet](http://time.com/4529524/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature-reaction/). President Obama took to Twitter [to congratulate Dylan](https://twitter.com/potus/status/786598777482153988), but some authors took to Twitter to sound off about the crossover artist whose published works remixed literary traditions. Dylan is the first musician to be recognized for the honor. Without him, the protest movements of the’60s would have happened, but they might have lost their soundtrack. As for the question of whether he’ll attend the awards ceremony in Stockholm, his answer was non-committal. “Absolutely. If it’s at all possible.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4550250/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4550250/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-interview/"},"headline":"Bob Dylan Breaks Silence on His Nobel Prize: 'It's Hard to Believe'","datePublished":"2016-10-28T22:03:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:11.270Z","description":"Answer no longer blowing in the wind, friends","url":"https://time.com/4550250/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-interview/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","Books","Bob Dylan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a55cbbbbdb66b0a/6988ac16ab6d7742786abc02/bob-dylan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a55cbbbbdb66b0a/6988ac16ab6d7742786abc02/bob-dylan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Late Show with David Letterman","caption":"NEW YORK - MAY 19: Musical guest Bob Dylan performs on the Late Show with David Letterman, Tuesday May 19, 2015 on the CBS Television Network. 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