Quebec author dropped from Goncourt amid AI, plagiarism allegations
Quebec author Thélyson Orélien has lost his spot in the running for one of France’s most prestigious literary prizes over allegations that he used artificial intelligence to write his first book.
The Académie Goncourt announced Friday that it had removed Orélien’s novel, “C’était ça ou mourir,” which translates to “It was either that or dying'' from the running for the Prix Goncourt amid allegations that the book was written using artificial intelligence, and separate plagiarism allegations involving his earlier work.
The decision marks the latest fallout from a controversy that has quickly spread through the French-language literary world, prompting Orélien’s Quebec publisher to suspend promotion of the novel, citing Orélien’s well-being, and a Quebec book fair to cancel his appearances.
Orélien, who earlier this week vehemently denied using AI to write the novel, declined on Friday to respond to the new allegations or provide further comment.
“I can’t talk about it. I want to focus on my physical and mental health,” he said in a WhatsApp message to The Canadian Press.
The Académie Goncourt, which awards an annual prize recognizing the best French-language novel, said it was removing the novel from its long list of 16 titles to “preserve the integrity of the Prix Goncourt” and recognize "literature written by women and men."
The academy said its decision was informed by several analyses conducted by researchers and journalists it considers credible who had reached similar conclusions and alleged that the novel may have been largely written using artificial intelligence. It also cited plagiarism allegations involving Orélien’s previous work.
The academy’s president, Philippe Claudel, did not immediately respond to a request for details about the evidence used to reach the decision. The short list for the prize comes out on Oct. 6.
The academy’s decision comes days after allegations surfaced that Orélien used generative AI to write his novel.
The allegations were first raised by “Balance ton Claude,” a collective project that analyzed the book using AI-detection software Pangram.
In a post on X Friday, Samuel Fitoussi, a columnist for the French newspaper Le Figaro and one of the people behind the project, said the group had tested several other books and that “none reached such high AI scores.”
Fitoussi said the project grew out of broader concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on writing and defended the decision to make its findings public.
“We obviously have compassion for the difficult days Orélien must be going through, and we hope he is being supported,” he wrote. “But we felt it was our duty to raise the alarm.”
He argued that readers should be able to know whether they are reading the work of a human or artificial intelligence so they can “choose with full knowledge of the facts.”
The controversy expanded Wednesday when La Presse reported separate allegations involving Orélien’s earlier work.
The newspaper said some articles attributed to him and published in Quebec and French media between 2012 and 2014 contained passages also found in previously published work by other authors.
La Presse said it used Pangram to identify a number of paragraphs that appeared to have been plagiarized.
The Canadian Press has not independently verified the AI or plagiarism allegations.
When CP put an excerpt of the novel through Pangram on Friday, a message on the platform alleged the text was "a mix of AI and human-written content."
The British scientific journal Nature reported in August that Pangram has performed well in independent evaluations at differentiating AI-generated from human-written text, though researchers caution that its scores should not be treated as definitive proof of how much of a text was written by AI.
Les Éditions du Boréal, which published Orélien’s novel in Quebec, said Thursday it was concerned about the plagiarism allegations, saying they raise questions about copyright and editorial integrity.
“Plagiarism is an unacceptable practice,” the Montreal-based publisher said.
Boréal said it could neither confirm nor refute the allegations that artificial intelligence was used to write the novel. It said its editorial process began with a completed manuscript and included exchanges between the author and editor, language editing and proofreading, none of which involved the use of AI.
The book remains available for sale, the publisher said on Thursday.
The Salon du livre de l’Estrie, a book fair in Sherbrooke, Que., withdrew Orélien as a guest of honour Thursday and cancelled his participation in two activities.
The controversy follows a rapid rise for Orélien in the French literary world; the Goncourt recognition had marked a major literary breakthrough for him.
Michel Lacroix, a professor of literary studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal, told The Canadian Press earlier this month that it was extremely rare for a Quebec writer, particularly a debut novelist, to receive that level of recognition in France.
“C’était ça ou mourir” won France’s Prix du Roman Fnac earlier this week.
The novel remains in contention for several other major French literary prizes, including the Renaudot, Femina, Médicis and Prix Décembre.
The Prix Médicis said its jury will meet on Oct. 14 to determine its short list. It did not comment on Orélien’s novel.
The organizations behind the other prizes did not immediately respond to questions about how they plan to respond to the controversy.
The Académie Goncourt awards its prize each fall to a work of French-language fiction. The winner receives a symbolic cheque for 10 euros, but the prestigious award typically brings significant attention and a major boost in book sales.
Orélien, who was born in Haiti and moved to Quebec after the 2010 earthquake, said he drew from his own experience as well as those of other migrants in writing the novel, which follows a Haitian man forced to flee his country and make a perilous journey through the Americas to Quebec.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2026.
By Charlotte Glorieux | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
