How does it feel to see Bob Dylan win the Nobel Prize for Literature?

More than a few novelists were annoyed or downright angry that one of their peers was seemingly overlooked on Thursday, after the Nobel committee made Dylan the first-ever musician to win the award.

Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, who penned "Trainspotting," was among the most irate critics of the choice on Twitter. "I'm a Dylan fan," he , "but this is an ill-conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies."

In another , Welsh attacked the choice for stretching the definition of literature to include a musician. "If you're a 'music' fan, look it up in the dictionary. Then 'literature'. Then compare and contrast." 

Welsh also compared the decision to other examples that he said would be equally unjust. "Have they inducted Don De Lillo into the Rock n Roll hall of fame alongside Def Leppard and Slayer?" he wrote, in one . He also retweeted a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay should win the prize for science.

And he wasn't on his own. Others also criticized the choice, with some pointing out that there are already plenty of other awards in existence to honour the efforts of musicians like Dylan.

Others came out in defence of Dylan, citing his poetic lyrics as all the evidence needed to show that he deserves the prize.

Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, explained the choice by comparing Dylan's lyrical poetry to the works of the ancient Greeks, which were often performed to music.

"Bob Dylan writes poetry for the ear," she said. "But it's perfectly fine to read his works as poetry."

With files from The Associated Press