Goncourt prize drops Orélien novel amid AI and plagiarism claims

The Académie Goncourt has removed Thélyson Orélien’s *C’était ça ou mourir* from its first 16-book selection for the Goncourt prize, saying convergent analyses by researchers and journalists indicated that the novel was “in all likelihood very largely the product of artificial intelligence.” The academy announced the decision on Sept. 25, citing both the AI allegations and plagiarism claims involving Orélien’s earlier work. It said the move was meant to protect the integrity of the prize and signal that it neither endorsed nor condoned texts generated with AI assistance. As this publication reported on Sept. 21, the dispute began when the anonymous X account Balance ton Claude used the Pangram detection tool to allege that the novel had been written almost entirely by AI. Those allegations remain disputed. Questions have been raised about Pangram’s reliability, while other detection programs tested by French media judged the book very probably human-written. Orélien, 38, denied using AI, described the accusations as racially motivated and said the novel’s imagery, repetition and rhythm reflected Haitian and Caribbean language traditions. Samuel Fitoussi, identified by *Le Figaro* as the person behind Balance ton Claude, confirmed on Sept. 25 that he was behind the account but said he was one member of a collective. Philippe Claudel had initially urged caution. He said before the removal that the academy would act if irrefutable evidence emerged, while warning against prematurely “throwing” the Canadian-Haitian writer “to the wolves.” Under the academy’s voting system, Orélien’s place in the second selection of eight books had not been guaranteed. The plagiarism claims cited by the academy did not concern *C’était ça ou mourir* itself. Franceinfo reported that they involved at least one short story and articles published in Canada more than a decade ago. *Le Monde* reported that La Presse found a 2013 Orélien column was almost entirely a lightly revised translation of an article published days earlier in *The Philippine Star*. Radio-Canada also reported that a prize-winning short story contained sentences from *Le Matin des magiciens*, the 1960 work by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier. Orélien has said he is assembling a dossier with his publishers to demonstrate that he wrote the novel. At the Les Correspondances literary festival in Manosque, he said he would step back and wait for the controversy to subside rather than address the latest allegations further. Les Éditions du Boréal, the novel’s original Canadian publisher, has suspended promotional activity to protect the author’s well-being. It said no AI had been used in its editorial work after receiving the manuscript and that it was working with Orélien to establish whether he wrote the book himself. The publisher said it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations at this stage, urged against hasty conclusions and condemned hateful messages and personal attacks. The fallout has extended beyond the Goncourt list. The Salon du livre de l’Estrie removed Orélien as its guest of honour and cancelled two scheduled appearances. The novel had also appeared in selections for the Prix Fémina and Prix Médicis. Published by Grasset in France in August, *C’était ça ou mourir* is a first-person account of Jonas Dorléon, a history-geography teacher who flees a country affected by gang violence and crosses 12 countries to Canada. It had sold about 35,000 copies, won the Prix du roman Fnac on the day the AI claim surfaced and sold translation rights in more than 20 countries. The Goncourt academy is due to publish its eight-title shortlist on Oct. 6 and announce the winner on Nov. 4.