"The speech is extraordinary and, as one might expect, eloquent. Now that the lecture has been delivered, the Dylan adventure is coming to a close," Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, wrote in a blog post.
In the speech, sent to the Academy with an audio link in which Dylan reads it aloud, the enigmatic rock star reflects on the possible links between his lyrics and literature.
He then cited musicians who inspired him -- including Buddy Holly, whose music "changed my life" and made him want to write songs when he was a teenager -- and the classic novels that made a big impression on him, including "Moby Dick", "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "The Odyssey".
Dylan is the first songwriter to win the prestigious Nobel Literature Prize.
More From This Section
The lecture can take nearly any form, including a short speech, a performance, a video broadcast or even a song, and must be held within six months of December 10, the date of the Nobel prize ceremony and the anniversary of the death of the prize's founder Alfred Nobel.
He was honoured "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition", the Academy said when it announced Dylan as the winner in October.