It might be him (babe). Due to a number of last-minute bets in the past 24 hours, Bob Dylan’s chances for winning this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature have dramatically improved from 100/1 to 5/1, ranking him first in the race.
Ladbrokes, the British based gambling company, said in a statement that, “Everything now points to Dylan taking the prize. At first we had him down as a rank outsider but the committee have been known to spring a shock and punters the world over feel Dylan will be the beneficiary.” Trailing Dylan in the odds are Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer at 10/1, Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami at 8/1, and the previous favorite, Syrian poet Adonis, at 6/1.
Dylan’s song lyrics span from the 1960s to the present, and in addition to musical compositions, he has published works of literature that include the autobiography Chronicles Volume One and the 1966 collection of poems, Tarantula.
A win for Dylan, who has been nominated for the award six times already, would further cement his place as a pop culture icon and give academic credence to his importance as a “writer who prophesie[s] with [his] pen.”
The winner will be announced at the ceremony tomorrow at Harvard University.
• Bob Dylan: http://www.bobdylan.com
• Columbia Records: http://www.columbiarecords.com
