Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel prize in literature last month, has announced he won't be attending the official ceremony to pick up the award after all.

In a "personal letter" penned to the Swedish Academy, the musician explained that he would not be travelling to Stockholm for the Nobel prize ceremony in December, citing "pre-existing commitments".

Hey, even Dylan needs a night off to wash his hair.

"He underscored, once again, that he feels very honoured indeed, wishing that he could receive the prize in person," the Academy said in a short public statement, dripping with the sadness of a teenage letter to an unrequited crush.

Dylan was awarded the prize (and an accompanying cheque for $1.2 million) in October, for creating "new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

The musician's public shun, echoing the antagonistic streak famously captured in D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 doco Don't Look Back, is particularly awkward for the academy, already reeling from the backlash their decision caused in sections of the literary community angry that a prize usually reserved for novelists and playwrights went to a songwriter.

"I'm a Dylan fan, but this is an ill-conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies," Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh let rip on Twitter following the October announcement.

"I totally get the Nobel committee. Reading books is hard," Super Sad True Love Story author Gary Shteyngart mocked.

(Prominent authors including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King and Joyce Carol Oates, meanwhile, voiced their support for the decision.)

In their statement, the academy went on to note "that laureates decide not to come is unusual, to be sure, but not exceptional", highlighting novelists Doris Lessing and Elfriede Jelinek and playwright Harold Pinter as previous winners unable to attend the ceremony (all due to medical issues).

Dylan, who took over two weeks to even acknowledge news of his win, had left the academy confused with his radio silence, despite their repeated attempts to contact him.

"I am not at all worried ... I think he will show up," the academy's permanent secretary Sara Danius told Swedish radio about Dylan's presence at the ceremony while awaiting a phone call from the musician.

In an interview with Britain's Telegraph later that month, Dylan called the honour "amazing, incredible".

While his absence at December's ceremony – to be attended by Swedish King Carl Gustaf XVI – will be awkward for organisers, the 75-year-old hasn't been completely let off the hook.

In a strongly worded closer, the academy noted they "look forward to Bob Dylan's Nobel lecture, which he must give – it is the only requirement – within six months counting from December 10, 2016."

Good luck with that, Swedish Academy.