STOCKHOLM: Details of Bob Dylan's receipt of his Nobel Prize for literature were being kept under close wraps on Saturday, leaving those wanting to know more about it blowin' in the wind.
The Swedish Academy, which hands out the Nobels, said on Wednesday that the American singer-songwriter would receive his diploma and medal while in Stockholm where he is performing this weekend, but in a "small and intimate setting" according to Dylan's wishes.
The prize-givers also said they planned to show up at one of Dylan's performances -- on Saturday and Sunday in Stockholm and on April 9 in Lund, Sweden.
But that was it. A blackout. Probably until someone says it's all over.
The decision to give the bard the literature prize caused controversy that only deepened when Dylan remained silent about the award for weeks afterward. He then said he would be a no-show at the annual Nobel banquet in December. Singer-poet Patti Smith appeared in his place.
"Getting ready for Dylan's concerts in Stockholm this weekend," Academy secretary Sara Danius said in a blog post on Friday.
Danius said earlier this week that the notoriously media-shy Dylan would not hold the traditional Nobel lecture this weekend, but that a taped version would probably be sent at somepoint.
In order to receive the price of 8 million Swedish crowns (US$903,000) prize, Dylan needs to give a lecture within six months from Dec 10. It does not necessarily need not be delivered in Stockholm.
When British novelist Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel literature prize in 2007, she composed a lecture and sent it to her Swedish publisher, who read it at a ceremony in the Swedish capital.
The decision to award the prize to Dylan, whom the Academy said had "created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition" was seen by some as slap in the face by some mainstream writers of poetry and prose.
But others saw it as an affirmation of a generation of cerebral lyrics that often stand alone without the music.