Bob Dylan won't attend the Nobel Prize ceremony next month

After finally getting through to Dylan, the iconic US artist told the Academy's permanent secretary Sara Danius that the award - the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature - left him "speechless" and he'd be at the ceremony "if it's at all possible."

It now emerges that it's not at all possible - Dylan, via a personal letter, let them know he is "very honoured" and that although "he wishes he could receive the prize personally... other commitments make it unfortunately impossible."

The Academy note in a press statement that Dylan is no less deserving just because he won't be at the ceremony: "That laureates decide not to come is unusual, to be sure, but not exceptional. In the recent past, several laureates have, for various reasons, been unable to come to Stockholm to receive the prize, among them Doris Lessing, Harold Pinter, and Elfriede Jelinek. The prize still belongs to them, just as it belongs to Bob Dylan."

The 75-year-old legend is supposed to give a lecture on a topic related to "the work for which the prize has been awarded". It is "the only requirement", and must take place "within six months counting from 10 December, 2016."