Literature.

Described as a great poet in the English speaking tradition, the iconic artist was awarded the

accolade for reinventing himself constantly over a 55-year musical career.

Lee Min-young has more.

The 75-year-old US singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for

Literature by the Swedish Academy on Thursday.

It was a surprise decision to give one of the world's most prestigious cultural awards

to a singer-songwriter, instead of a novelist.

"The Nobel Prize in literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan for having created new

poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

Bob Dylan is the first songwriter to win the prestigious award.

Also, he is the first American to win the Nobel Prize in literature since novelist Toni

Morrison in 1993.

Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941.

He began his musical career in 1959, and took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas.

He is best known for his works which date from the 1960s... such as "Blowin' in the

Wind," "Masters of War," "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Like a Rolling Stone".

Last year, the Swedish Academy gave the award to Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarusian author

and investigative journalist, for her works about key events affecting Belarus during

and after the Soviet era.

Lee Minyoung, Arirang News.