Legendary American musician Bob Dylan has won the 2016 Nobel prize in literature, the first songwriter to receive the prestigious award. The Swedish Academy, which makes the annual decision on who will win the Nobel Literature Prize, said Dylan was honored "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary at the Swedish Academy sayd Dylan "is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition". He had been mentioned as a possible Nobel prize winner in past years but was not seen as a serious contender. The 75 year old singer and songwriter, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, launched his music career in 1959 by performing in coffee houses in Minnesota. Dylan's best known works are from the 1960's, when songs like 'Blowin in the Wind' became anthems for the anti-Vietnam war and civil rights movements.