Bob Dylan will not travel to Sweden to collect Nobel prize

Singer has prior commitments

'The image of me was certainly not a songwriter or singer, it was more like a threat to society in some kind of way. It was like being in an Edgar Allen Poe story...You're just not the person everybody thinks you are (Getty)

Bob Dylan will not be travelling to Sweden to pick up his Nobel prize for literature.

In an announcement on Wednesday, the Swedish Academy said the singer-songwriter had written to inform organisers he had “previous commitments” and would not be able to collect his award personally.

Dylan was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

But after being announced as the recipient, Dylan failed to acknowledge his win for two weeks.

Dylan later he had simply been rendered “speechless” by the award and would “absolutely” attend December's Nobel Prize award ceremony “if it's at all possible”.

It is unclear what the nature of the commitments are that are preventing Dylan from travelling to collect his accolade, but he is still obliged to deliver a Nobel lecture within the next seven months.