Dylan writes Nobel Prize festival speech, Patti Smith to sing

STOCKHOLM -- He won’t be there in person but the Nobel Foundation says Bob Dylan has written a speech that will be read out at the traditional Nobel Prize banquet.

Dylan, the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in literature, declined the invitation to the Dec. 10 prize ceremony and banquet, pleading other commitments. But the Nobel Foundation said Monday that the singer-songwriter has written a “speech of thanks” that will be read by a yet-to-be-decided person at the lavish banquet in Stockholm’s City Hall.

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At the Nobel awards ceremony earlier that day, Patti Smith will perform Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” as a tribute to the 75-year-old.

Nobel spokeswoman Annika Pontikis says Dylan’s diploma and medal will be handed over at a later date that hasn’t been determined yet.

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