Thélyson Orélien Novel Removed from Goncourt Longlist

The Académie Goncourt has removed Thélyson Orélien's novel 'C’etait Ca ou Mourir' (It Was Either That or Die) from its prize longlist. The academy acted on allegations of AI-assisted writing and plagiarism, stating it must protect the integrity of France's most prestigious literary award.

Orélien, a 38-year-old author, denies the claims. The novel, which follows a man fleeing Haitian gang violence to Canada, had already won several awards and was headed for translation before its removal. The Goncourt Academy will publish its shortlist on 6 October and name the winner on 4 November.

AI allegations and detection tools questioned

Claims that the book was almost entirely written by AI first surfaced on 21 September. An anonymous X account called Balance ton Claude-a reference to Anthropic's AI agent Claude-made the allegation. The account said it used the AI detection software Pangram to analyze the text, which flagged the novel as machine-written.

The author behind the anonymous account was later identified as Samuel Fitoussi, a columnist for Le Figaro. Fitoussi admitted to being part of the group operating the profile. The reliability of the Pangram detection tool has since been questioned. Substack now uses Pangram to scan posts, but its accuracy is disputed.

Author denies allegations and cites racial bias

Thélyson Orélien has forcefully rejected the AI accusation. He argues the claim is racially motivated and dismisses his use of traditional Haitian and Caribbean linguistic rhythms. "I’ve always loved creating and writing. I don’t see why I would use a machine," Orélien said. He insists he could rewrite the entire book by hand.

Plagiarism accusations surface

Separate allegations of plagiarism have compounded the controversy. French newspaper Libération alleged Orélien plagiarized an award-winning short story from the 1960 preface of Louis Pauwels' book The Morning of the Magicians. Other reports surfaced claiming he copied passages from a 2013 opinion piece in The Philippine Star and a 2012 short story.

Academy defends decision amid broader debate

The Académie Goncourt defended its unprecedented move. It cited "plagiarisms of which its author has been guilty over time" and the convergent result of several analyses by trustworthy researchers and journalists indicating the novel is very likely AI-generated. The academy stated it does not endorse texts created with AI.

The case has ignited a fierce debate in French literary circles. It touches on race, merit, and originality, echoing similar AI controversies in other international prizes. Critics warn that AI detectors like Pangram are notoriously unreliable. The US Authors Guild cautions such tools are wildly inaccurate and should never be the sole reason to withdraw a book.

Samuel Fitoussi explained his motivation for the anonymous allegations. I feared that AI will cause the disappearance of reading and writing, he said. Most readers tend to rate AI-written stories higher, yet they still trust the human label more. The Académie Goncourt will announce the winner of the Prix Goncourt on 4 November.