Bob Dylan wins Nobel Literature Prize

Bob Dylan wins Nobel Literature Prize

2016 Nobel Prize in Literature to Bob Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”

Courtesy of http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37643621  

US singer Bob Dylan has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first songwriter to win the prestigious award.

The 75-year-old rock legend received the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

The balladeer, artist and actor is the first American to win since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993.

His songs include Blowin' in the Wind and The Times They are A-Changin'.

Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said Dylan had been chosen because he was "a great poet in the English speaking tradition".

"For 54 years now he's been at it reinventing himself, constantly creating a new identity," she told reporters in Stockholm.

The singer is due to perform later at the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas.

Dylan - who took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas - had long been tipped as a potential prize recipient.

Few experts, though, expected the academy to extend the award to a genre such as folk rock music.

Former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion is among those to have previously praised Dylan's lyrics, saying his songs "work as poems".

"They have often extremely skilful rhyming aspects to them," he told the BBC. "They're often the best words in the best order."

Analysis by Colin Paterson, entertainment correspondent

Bob Dylan - the first person to win a Nobel Prize the same day as he plays a gig in Las Vegas.

What makes a man who has only ever written three books a suitable winner of the Nobel Prize for literature?

Bob Dylan arguably made the lyrics more important than the music.

Last Friday Dylan supported The Rolling Stones at the Desert Trip Festival in California and his set included Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 from that very album.

It is a song with the refrain "everybody must get stoned," leading to decades-long debates about whether it deals with Old Testament-style punishment or a call to smoke cannabis. Or most probably both.

Few would argue that is one of his finest lyrics, but it does demonstrate the mixture of political questioning, religious exploration and interest in humanity which has been woven through his work for more than 50 years and has secured him this award.

The result also demonstrates a real change for the prize. In 112 years, no songwriter has ever won before.

The decision elevates song lyrics to being on a critical par with literature, poetry and playwriting. It's a big step away from the self-perpetuating intellectualism and elitism for which the award had been criticised.

Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941 and began his musical career in 1959, playing in coffee houses in Minnesota.

Much of his best-known work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal historian of America's troubles.

Blowin' in the Wind and The Times They are A-Changin' were among anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements.

His move away from traditional folk songwriting, paired with a controversial decision to "go electric" proved equally influential.

Dylan's many albums include Highway 61 Revisited in 1965, Blonde on Blonde in 1966 and Blood on the Tracks in 1975.

Since the late 1980s he has toured persistently, an undertaking he has dubbed the "Never-Ending Tour".

BREAKING NEWS: MAYA ANGELOU DIES AT AGE 86

Maya Angelou dead at 86

Courtesy of Web Staff,  http://myfox8.com/2014/05/28/maya-angelou-dead-at-86/

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Award-winning author, renowned poet and civil rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou has died. She was 86.
Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines confirmed Angelou was found by her caretaker on Wednesday morning.
Angelou’s publicist, Helen Brann, also confirmed the news.
Angelou had been reportedly battling health problems. She recently canceled a scheduled appearance of a special event to be held in her honor.
Angelou was set to be honored with the “Beacon of Life Award” at the 2014 MLB Beacon Award Luncheon on May 30 in Houston.
Wake Forest University issued a statement on Wednesday:
“Dr. Angelou was a national treasure whose life and teachings inspired millions around the world, including countless students, faculty, and staff at Wake Forest, where she served as Reynolds Professor of American Studies since 1982. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Angelou’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
School officials said information about a campus memorial may be shared at a later date.

Angelou, one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time, is a celebrated poet, novelist, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker and civil rights activist.
A professor, singer and dancer, among other things, Angelou’s work spans several different professions. She spent her early years studying dance and drama in California.
After dropping out at age 14, she became the San Francisco’s first African-American female cable car conductor.
Angelou later returned to high school to finish her diploma and gave birth to her son a few weeks after graduation. While the 17-year-old single mother waited tables to support her son, she acquired a passion for music and dance.
Affectionately referred to as Dr. Angelou, the professor never went to college. She has received over 50 honorary degrees and was Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
Angelou is famous for saying, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou’s birth name was Marguerite Annie Johnson, and she was fluent in 6 languages
Angelou was also named one of the 10 most admired North Carolinians in a recent Elon Poll.
Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up between St. Louis and the then-racially-segregated Stamps, Arkansas.
The famous poet got into writing after a childhood tragedy that stunned her into silence for almost a decade. When she was 7, her mother’s boyfriend raped her. He was later beaten to death by a mob after she testified against him.
“My 7-and-a-half-year-old logic deduced that my voice had killed him, so I stopped speaking for almost six years,” she said.
From the silence, a louder voice was born.
Her list of friends is as impressive as her illustrious career. Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey referred to her as “sister friend.” She counted Martin Luther King Jr., with whom she worked during the Civil Rights movement, among her friends. King was assassinated on her birthday.
Angelou spoke at least six languages, and worked as a newspaper editor in Egypt and Ghana. During that time, she wrote “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” launching the first in a series of autobiographical books.
“I want to write so well that a person is 30 or 40 pages in a book of mine … before she realizes she’s reading,” she said.
Angelou was also one of the first black women film directors. Her work on Broadway has been nominated for Tony Awards.
Before making it big, the 6-foot-tall wordsmith also worked as a cook and sang with a traveling road show. “Look where we’ve all come from … coming out of darkness, moving toward the light,” she has said. “It is a long journey, but a sweet one, bittersweet.”