US folk icon Bob Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy said today.

He won the award for creating “new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” academy permanent secretary Sara Danius said after announcing the prize.

Last year, it selected Belarusian author and investigative journalist Svetlana Alexievich.

Today’s announcement completed the annual Nobel Prize announcements. Awards have earlier been awarded in the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, peace and economics.

This year, the prizes are each worth 8 million kronor (US$930,000). The awards are presented every year on Dec 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

- dpa