Together with about 20 other publishers in different countries, Natur och Kultur had purchased the rights to Thélyson Orélien's debut novel "C'était ça ou mourir" (roughly, "It was this or die").
The French Goncourt Prize jury withdrew the novel's nomination for this year's prize earlier this fall, and the author's publisher in Quebec has now ended its collaboration with the Haitian-Canadian author.
New information "indicates that artificial intelligence was used during the writing process," publisher Boréal wrote in a statement.
It was a fairly brief message, and they haven't shared any further information. From what it sounds like now, many will release it anyway. It has already been translated, says Richard Herold.
Natur och Kultur had planned to publish it only in 2028 and has not yet started work on it.
Two top prizes
The already award-winning novel was nominated this fall for France's two top literary prizes, the Renaudot and Goncourt, after a literary account on social media used the AI detector Pangram and concluded that it had been written with the help of AI.
However, Thélyson Orélien himself has denied using AI and has only admitted to making "mistakes" regarding plagiarism.
The Canadian publisher seems to have lost trust in the author. It doesn't seem to be so much about whether the use of AI was extensive or limited, but more about the dialogue with him, says Richard Herold.
Adam Dahlin, head of publishing at Norstedts, describes Thélyson Orélien's novel as the first example of "more serious literature" where the author has been accused of seeking help from AI.
"That's the case we're looking at and following. It will affect all publishers. Previously, we've had our eyes on quickly produced entertainment literature," he says.
“Perfectly clean”
Natur och Kultur does not have a general ban on the use of AI, but demands full transparency from its authors, says Herold. However, the basic stance is that “people should write the books.”
If we start outsourcing the most human thing we have, which is art, what is left? The challenge is that using AI is not black or white. AI is already in every script we read in some way, at least in spell-checking. So that's why transparency is the most important thing.
Born in Haiti in 1988, he moved to Canada after the great earthquake of 2010 and continued his studies at the University of Montreal.
This fall, he received the French literary prize Prix du roman Fnac for his novel “C'était ça ou mourir”. The novel is about the journey of a young migrant and was also nominated for the two French prizes, the Renaudot and Goncourt. However, the nomination for the latter prize was withdrawn after allegations that the author used AI, something he himself denies.
“If Thélyson Orélien 'cheated', it was sensationally well done,” writes Johanna Fränden in Dagens Nyheter.
