Key Takeaways
- Thélyson Orélien’s novel, released earlier this year, turned him into a prominent literary voice.
- The book, C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That or Die), follows a Haitian refugee pursuing asylum in Canada.
- Orélien has denied using AI to create the work, while his publishers have publicly defended the originality and power of his book.
Did a popular emerging writer, whose debut novel is making waves in the literary world, use AI to write his book? Despite accusations, he vehemently denies it.
According to a recent Reuters report, Thélyson Orélien, 38, recently won the Prix du Roman Fnac, one of the first major honors of France’s fall literary season, for his first novel, C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That or Die).
The novel, released earlier this year in Canada and France, follows a teacher forced to flee Haiti as gang violence closes in around him. His journey becomes dangerous, shaped by the hope of reaching safety. Along the way, he faces a series of challenges and encounters that test him.
Eventually, he arrives in Canada, where he begins to reclaim a basic sense of security — what the novel describes as the right to breathe freely, without fear.
Orélien was born in Haiti and moved to Montreal in 2010.
Additionally, the Prix Goncourt and Prix Renaudot, two of France’s most influential annual literary honors, have included Orélien’s debut novel in their early selection rounds. Several other major autumn prizes, including the Femina and Médicis, have shortlisted the book.
However, a powerful accusation has cut into Orélien’s credibility as a writer. Recently, a French group called Balance ton Claude (Denounce your Claude) asserted that his book was “almost totally” authored by AI.
“We tested several passages, from different bits of the manuscript, to come up with the identical result: 100% AI,” the group recently said on X.
Other accusations
The book drew additional online complaints that its prose read like AI.
Kevin Bryan, a University of Toronto professor who studies innovation economics and artificial intelligence, tested several passages with the AI-detection tool Pangram. The tool labeled every excerpt as 100% AI-generated.
“I’ve never seen a single instance of this happening, this frequently, with selections this wrong, and it not being AI writing,” Bryan wrote on X.
The Goncourt Academy said on Friday that it had removed the novel from consideration for its prize.
“This is about sending a clear message” to “affirm that we neither endorse nor condone in any way the creation of texts generated with the help of AI,” the Academy said in a statement.
Orélien’s response
Orélien denies the accusations.
“I have always loved creation and literature. I can’t see why I would feel compelled to use a machine,” he told the Libération newspaper last week. He said he and his editor were assembling a dossier, or a collection of documents and evidence, to show that he had written the book.
“My traditions are Haitian and Caribbean. The images, the repetitions and the rhythms are the living word, they are my own,” he said.
Grasset, the book’s publisher, rejected the accusations as deeply damaging to an author with an “extraordinary” personal history. The company told the BBC that his writing was distinctly his own, calling it both original and forceful.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Orélien sold the book for publication in more than 20 countries. Publishers have not yet released an English edition, though Scribner has confirmed that it will publish a U.S. translation in 2028.
Key Takeaways
- Thélyson Orélien’s novel, released earlier this year, turned him into a prominent literary voice.
- The book, C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That or Die), follows a Haitian refugee pursuing asylum in Canada.
- Orélien has denied using AI to create the work, while his publishers have publicly defended the originality and power of his book.
Did a popular emerging writer, whose debut novel is making waves in the literary world, use AI to write his book? Despite accusations, he vehemently denies it.
According to a recent Reuters report, Thélyson Orélien, 38, recently won the Prix du Roman Fnac, one of the first major honors of France’s fall literary season, for his first novel, C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That or Die).
The novel, released earlier this year in Canada and France, follows a teacher forced to flee Haiti as gang violence closes in around him. His journey becomes dangerous, shaped by the hope of reaching safety. Along the way, he faces a series of challenges and encounters that test him.