The writer

Dylan was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 – the first songwriter to win it, and the first American since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993.

It was awarded for creating “new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

In his acceptance speech, Dylan told how his songs drew on themes from classic literature, such as Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels and A Tale of Two Cities.

He said: “They gave you a way of looking at life, an understanding of human nature, and a standard to measure by. I took all that with me when I started composing lyrics.”