Canadian and French publishers stand by author accused of using AI for prize-winning novel
Grasset said it stands by the Haitian-Canadian author as AI detector claims spread, while the novel has sold more than 35,000 copies.
- On Monday, September 21, 2026, an anonymous X account called "Balance ton Claude" alleged that Quebec author Thélyson Orélien's novel *C'était ça ou mourir* was written by artificial intelligence, sparking controversy over the bestselling work.
- The account used the US-based Pangram detection tool to analyze passages, claiming it returned "the same result: 100% AI" and asserting the software is "by far the most reliable AI detector" with a "false-positive rate of 0.0041%."
- Publisher Grasset renewed "their absolute confidence" in the author on Tuesday, while Orélien defended his writing as stemming from "a Haitian and Caribbean literary tradition" with its own poetics and devices.
- The novel remains on initial longlists for the Goncourt, Femina, and Renaudot prizes; late Tuesday, the anonymous collective posted a message urging readers to "go easy on the attacks against Thélyson Orélien."
- Writer François Negroni argues that unique literary forms like "creolised" French "doesn't fit into the boxes" of standard software training, while stressing he "doesn't know" whether the work used AI.
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Quebecer Thélyson Orélien, the author of the novel "C" was it or die, is suspected of having resorted to artificial intelligence (AI) to write his work, already award-winning and competing for several international awards. The latter defends itself, but who says true? You're decorated with this whole story that makes you jaser from one end to the other of the Atlantic.
The Haitian-Canadian writer Thélyson Orélien has been nominated for just about all the major French literary prizes. But the book with which he broke through this summer is said to have been written with the help of AI. The French book world is struggling with the issue.
Canadian author accused of using AI for prize-winning novel, publishers defend writer
The publishers of an award-winning novel by Haitian Canadian author Thelyson Orelien have defended the writer against accusations he used artificial intelligence to write it, and said they stand behind him.
The surprise and disappointment are at the height of the enthusiasm that aroused "It was that or die", the novel phenomenon of the new year promised to the most prestigious French literary prizes. Thélyson Orélien, his author...
"Since my recent arrival in France, I have been subjected to numerous racist attacks, which do not come from readers but from outsiders who seek to harm. I'm not... The article "Many racist attacks" : accused of having written his novel with an AI, Thélyson Orélien plays the anti-racist card has appeared first on Current Values.
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