His ambivalence to one of the world's most prestigious honours saw him branded "impolite and arrogant" but almost six months after he became the first musician to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Bob Dylan has finally received his award.

The US singer-songwriter collected the diploma and medal ahead of a concert in Stockholm, a member of the Swedish Academy confirmed.

Klas Ostergren said "it went very well indeed", adding Dylan was "a very nice, kind man".

He said the 75-year-old received the award during a small gathering on Saturday afternoon at a hotel, with just academy members and Dylan's staff present.

When the award was announced, some in the literary world criticised the decision to give it to the musician and the dissent grew louder amid Dylan’s apparent indifference to an honour that can transform the career of lesser-known writers.

The Like A Rolling Stone singer took made no public statement after his win was announced in October, and a brief reference added to his website was quickly removed after the media caught wind of it.

It led one academy member, Per Wastberg, to call Dylan “impolite and arrogant.”

Bob Dylan's heroes & villains Show all 7 1 /7 Bob Dylan's heroes & villains Bob Dylan's heroes & villains Heart and soul: Dylan in 1978 Bob Dylan's heroes & villains The Death of Emmett Till 1963

Emmett Till

In the summer of 1955 he was beaten, had his eye gouged out, shot dead, and his body was dumped into the Tallahatchie River, for lascivious remarks made to a grocery store owner. His murderers were acquitted by an all-white jury, although the men later admitted to a journalist that they had done the deed Getty Images Bob Dylan's heroes & villains Hurricane 1976

Rubin Hurricane Carter

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a petty criminal turned boxer imprisoned in 1967 for the shooting of two white men and women in a New Jersey bar Getty Images Bob Dylan's heroes & villains Only a Pawn in Their Game 1964

Medgar Evers

Medgar Evers was a Second World War war veteran and civil rights campaigner. Through his involvement with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he was heavily involved in campaigning for the conviction of Emmett Till's murderers. He was assassinated in June 1963 Getty Images Bob Dylan's heroes & villains Oxford Town 1963

James Meradith

One of the most famous civil rights figures, he was originally rejected for the University of Mississippi on racial grounds but won entry through the courts. On his first day there was a riot where 2 people were killed and 375 wounded Getty Images Bob Dylan's heroes & villains George Jackson 1971

George Jackson

George Jackson was a black, sometimes violent militant who was sentenced to "one year to life" imprisonment when he was 18 for armed robbery. In prison, he wrote two politically radical bestsellers, Blood In My Eye and Soledad Brother. In 1971 Jackson was gunned down, allegedly trying to escape from San Quentin Adjustment Centre Bob Dylan's heroes & villains Who Killed Davey More 1963

Davey Moore

He was crowned World Featherweight Champion in 1959. He held the title for four years but lost it to the Cuban, Sugar Ramos. After conducting interviews, Moore complained of headaches. He fell unconscious and was taken to hospital, where he was diagnosed with brain damage. He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead four days later. Getty Images

Eventually Dylan finally said he had been left "speechless" by the win, more than two weeks after the announcement.

Dylan himself did not mention anything about receiving the Nobel at his concert after months of discussion on whether he would collect the prize in person.