US folk singer Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize in literature. Dylan was announced as the winner by the Swedish Academy on 13 October and is yet to comment on the news.

The 75-year-old singer was awarded the prestigious literature accolade "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

Sarah Danils, permanent secretary of the Swedish academy, said: "[Dylan is a] great sampler ... and for 54 years he has been at it, reinventing himself." Referring to Dylan's Blonde On Blonde album, Danils added the song is "an extraordinary example of his brilliant way of rhyming. putting together refrains, and his brilliant way of thinking".

Some of Dylan's best-known works, including Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are A-Changin', became prominent during civil rights movements and anti-war protests in the 1960s. The singer's win comes as a surprise as the Swedish Academy did not announce a shortlist of nominees. Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman but adopted his stage name in honour of the poet Dylan Thomas.

Musician Bob Dylan
Musician Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize in literature Getty

Dylan will now receive the eight million Swedish kronor (£740,000, €818,000) that comes with the Nobel Prize and is expected to collect his award on 10 December in Stockholm, Sweden. Dylan is the first American to win the Nobel Prize in literature since Beloved author Toni Morrison scooped the award in 1993.

The musician has released 37 studio albums over the course of his career including the iconic Blonde On Blonde, Blood On The Tracks and Highway 61 Revisited. His most recent, Fallen Angels, was released in May 2016.

The literature award was the last of the Nobel Prizes to be announced following the medicine, physics, chemistry, peace and economics accolades.

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