The Académie Goncourt removes Thélyson Orélien's novel from its selection

It was that or die Thélyson Orélien will not compete for one of the most prestigious literary prizes. The Goncourt Academy announced Friday that it was withdrawing the novel by Canadian-Haitian author Thélyson Orélien from its selection for the Goncourt Prize due to accusations of plagiarism and use of artificial intelligence targeting it.

This decision “is dictated by the desire to preserve the integrity of the Goncourt Prize and that of the Academy, whose central role consists of promoting and rewarding literature written by women and men,” explains the Academy in a press release sent to AFP, which had placed the novel It Was That or Dying (Grasset) in its first selection for the prestigious prize awarded on November 4.

To justify this choice, the Academy highlights the “plagiarism of which its author has been guilty over time and which has just been revealed, as well as the converging result of several analyzes by reliable researchers and journalists highlighting the fact that It Was That or Die is in all likelihood very largely the product of artificial intelligence”. “It’s about sending a clear message” to “affirm that we do not condone or endorse in one way or another the creation of texts generated with the help of AI,” she adds.

The Academy, chaired by the writer Philippe Claudel, will make its second list public on October 6. “It Was That or Die”, initially published in Canada then in France in August, is one of the bestsellers of the literary season. It won the Fnac novel prize on Monday and is one of the selections for the main fall prizes, including those of the Fémina and the Médicis.