(CNN) — The 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
The Nobel Committee’s permanent secretary Sara Danius said Dylan, 75, “is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition.” She drew parallels between his work and that of ancient Greek poets Homer and Sappho.
Dylan, 75, was born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1941.
He may be viewed by some as an unconventional winner since he is not in the established canon of literary writers.
Dylan is the 108th winner of the most prestigious literature award in the world.