Novelist's book dropped from Goncourt prize list over AI-writing claims
France's Académie Goncourt has removed a critically acclaimed novel by Canadian-Haitian writer Thélyson Orélien from its longlist following claims it was largely written by AI, alongside separate plagiarism accusations. The author denies the allegations and calls them racially motivated.
The Académie Goncourt, organiser of France's most prestigious literary prize, has withdrawn Thélyson Orélien's novel "C'était ça ou mourir" (It Was That or Die) from its longlist. The academy said the move was meant to protect the integrity of the prize after allegations the book was generated with artificial intelligence.
The novel is a first-person account of a history and geography teacher who flees gang violence in his homeland and crosses 12 countries before reaching safety in Canada. Published in France by Grasset in August, it has sold roughly 35,000 copies, won the Prix du roman Fnac, and had its translation rights sold to more than 20 countries.
The AI allegations surfaced on 21 September, the same day the book won the Fnac prize. An anonymous X account, referencing Anthropic's AI agent in its name, said it had run the text through the detection tool Pangram and found it "almost entirely" AI-generated. However, Pangram's accuracy has been questioned, and other detection tools cited in French media found the novel was very likely written by a human.
Orélien, 38, has denied using AI, describing the accusation as racially motivated. He said the book's imagery, repetition and rhythm reflect a living Haitian and Caribbean linguistic tradition that is entirely his own.
The anonymous account was later traced to Samuel Fitoussi, a Le Figaro columnist known for an essay criticising "wokeism". Fitoussi said he launched the campaign out of concern that AI would ultimately cause reading and writing to disappear, despite describing himself as "techno-optimistic".
Academy president Philippe Claudel had initially urged caution over the claims, but the academy's position shifted after separate plagiarism allegations emerged. Libération reported that Orélien had lifted passages from a preface written by journalist Louis Pauwels, originally published in 1960. In its statement, the academy cited both the plagiarism findings and converging analyses pointing to AI involvement, stressing it would not endorse texts generated with AI assistance.
The novel's Canadian publisher, Éditions du Boréal, said it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations, urging restraint and warning against hateful attacks on the author. It said there was a real person behind the book and cautioned against rushing to judgment without concrete evidence.
Orélien has said he will not comment further on the newer allegations, saying the campaign is aimed at silencing his voice, and that he intends to step back until tensions ease. The Goncourt shortlist is due on 6 October, with the winner announced on 4 November.
