Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize in literature

Bob Dylan was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday morning.

Dylan was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the American song tradition.”

The American musician had long been rumored to be considered for the prize, but literary watchers considered his name among those in the running  a novelty. He is the first American to win the prize since Toni Morrison in 1993.

The room of watchers at the Swedish Academy seemed shocked by the announcement, one calling the decision “radical” when asking Sara Danils, permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, about the choice.