He’s written some of the most famous lyrics in musical history, and new American singer/songwriter Bob Dylan has been awarded the highest honour in US literature. The “Times They Are A’ Changing” singer has been awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize by Columbia University for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture”.

Administrator of the Pulitzer, Sig Gissler, says Dylan’s gong marks an expansion by the Pulitzer committee (which began back in 1917) to embrace “musical composition” as well as its traditional areas of journalism and literature. They intend to “encompass the full range of excellence in American music,” Gissler says, the award recognising Dylan’s “lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power”.