The singer-songwriter-poet-musician was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Thursday morning, as reported by the Los Angeles Times in a news brief.

Bob Dylan, 75, was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the American song tradition.”

Related: Bob Dylan, Forever Young, Turns 75

“The American musician had long been rumored to be considered for the prize, but literary watchers considered his name among those in the running a novelty. The room of watchers at the Swedish academy seemed shocked by the announcement in a web broadcast,” the Times reported.

Sara Danils, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, described Dylan as “a great sampler … and for 54 years he has been at it, reinventing himself,” The Guardian reported.

Related: Storylines for That Bob Dylan TV Show

Start with “Blonde on Blonde,” she said: “An extraordinary example of his brilliant way of rhyming, putting together refrains, and his brilliant way of thinking.”

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