Goncourt-excluded author Thélyson Orélien denies using AI but admits plagiarism

A categorical denial of AI use

Thélyson Orélien, a Canadian-Haitian author, has denied that artificial intelligence wrote his novel C'était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That or Die). In a text sent to AFP on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, titled 'Ce roman que j'ai écrit', he called the claim slander and heresy. He acknowledged using research tools here and there, particularly for foreign idioms, but said the sense and structure of the story came from him. He insisted the book was his own creation, drawn from his wounds and those of other migrants.

No sentence in this book was created by a machine.

How the AI allegation emerged

The claim first circulated in September through an anonymous account on X called Balance ton Claude, which said the novel had been written almost entirely with AI, relying on the Pangram detection program. The French essayist Samuel Fitoussi later said he was part of the group behind that account, along with others whose identities he did not reveal. AFP submitted the same excerpts to other detectors and got divergent results, with some passages judged very probably human-written and others rated at a 100% probability of AI generation. AFP's own verification found a high probability that the novel was written by a human. Orélien has said he is preparing a dossier with his editors, and he dates the start of the book to autumn 2017 in Quebec and a first draft to 2019, though he has not provided evidence for those dates.

Admitted plagiarism

Orélien admitted he committed unacceptable errors by copying texts of established authors after arriving in Canada, and he apologised for them. The plagiarism he admitted covers opinion articles and a short story published more than a decade ago, according to The New York Times. La Presse had earlier flagged matches between one of his narratives and a work by the French writer Louis Pauwels, and between an opinion piece of his and a text in The Philippine Star. He wrote that he was a little over twenty at the time, that he wanted to move too fast, and that admiration does not entitle anyone to claim other people's texts as their own. He said he deeply regrets it.

Consequences for the novel

The Goncourt jury excluded the novel from the race on 25 September, citing the need to protect the integrity of the prize and the institution. Canadian publisher Boréal suspended promotional activities, saying it could neither confirm nor refute the allegations at that stage. Le Soir reports that the French and Belgian promotional tour was halted in early October so the author could return to Quebec. RTP reports that publication of the book was suspended in Portugal. Sales figures differ by outlet: Le Soir cites more than 75,000 copies sold since late August, while De Standaard cites more than 65,000. Le Soir also says the novel remains in the running for the Renaudot prize.

The novel and the author's account

The novel follows Jonas Dorléon, a teacher who flees Haiti as gang violence engulfs the country and crosses 12 countries on a dangerous journey to Canada. Orélien says the story draws on his own exile and that of other migrants, and that he spoke with many Haitians who had lived through exile while writing it. He has lived in Quebec since 2010, after leaving Haiti. In his statement he described weeks of what he called a media lynching and racist harassment, and said the accusations question his humanity as well as his craft.