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.

Bob, the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in literature, declined the invitation to the December 10 prize ceremony and banquet, pleading other commitments.

Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (Clint Austin/AP)

But the Nobel Foundation said 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.

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

Patti Smith
Patti Smith (Jim Rassol/AP)

Nobel spokeswoman Annika Pontikis said Bob’s diploma and medal will be handed over at a later date that has not yet been determined.