When Bob Dylan was announced as this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, numerous people spoke out against the singer/songwriter for not being a traditional novelist like past winners.

Stephen King - author of It, The Dark Tower series, and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - has since defended Dylan, calling people who complain about the win “”sour grapes”.

“People complaining about his Nobel either don't understand or it's just a plain old case of sour grapes,” he told Rolling Stone.

“I've seen several literary writers who have turned their noses up at the Dylan thing, like Gary Shteyngart [The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan]. Well, I've got news for you, Gary: There are a lot of deserving writers who have never gotten the Nobel Prize. And Gary Shteyngart will probably be one of them. That's no reflection on his work. You have to rise to the level of a Faulkner if you're an American.”

Bob Dylan: Meet Bob the cynic Show all 2 1 /2 Bob Dylan: Meet Bob the cynic Bob Dylan: Meet Bob the cynic Bob Dylan: Meet Bob the cynic

In the same interview, King spoke about his love for Dylan’s work, detailing how, when he first heard the song "Subterranean Homesick Blues,” he was “electrified. It was like this pressurised dump of lyrics and images.”