Quebec author Thélyson Orélien admits past plagiarism, denies AI use in novel

MONTREAL – The Quebec author of an acclaimed novel has admitted there was plagiarism in some of his earlier work, but denies allegations that he used artificial intelligence to write his latest book.

The novel by Thélyson Orélien, “C’était ça ou mourir,” which translates to “It was either that or dying,” came under scrutiny last month over allegations of AI use. This was followed by other news reports that raised questions about passages in the author’s previous work.

In a statement released Tuesday by his publisher, Éditions du Boréal, Orélien apologized for making what he described as unacceptable mistakes in his youth.

He said that after leaving Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, he became fascinated by the work of numerous authors, but acknowledged that he had crossed a line.

“Admiration does not give you the right to take, to claim as your own texts that are not yours,” he wrote.

However, he rejected allegations that his novel was written using AI, saying no sentence was generated by a machine. He acknowledged using tools for research, for example, to look up foreign-language expressions.

“I wrote this novel myself,” he said, adding that the story was inspired by his experiences and those of other migrants.

Orélien also said journalists have the right to investigate his work and readers are free to criticize it, but condemned what he described as weeks of threats, racist harassment and public attacks.

“What I am going through is cruel,” he wrote. “By attributing a text, one that is mine (…) to a machine, they have not only called into question my status as a writer but also my humanity.”

He said his past mistakes may raise legitimate questions but should not be treated as proof that his novel was generated by AI.

“I did not write this book to win prizes or become famous,” he wrote. “I have nothing to prove to those who accuse me.”

The allegations first surfaced last month when a social media account using the name “Balance ton Claude” shared an analysis of Orélien’s novel using AI-detection software Pangram. The account alleged that much of it may have been AI-generated.

Samuel Fitoussi, a columnist for the French newspaper Le Figaro and one of the people behind the project, said the group tested several other books, and none received similarly high AI-detection scores.

Fitoussi defended publishing the findings, arguing readers should know whether they are reading human-written or AI-generated work.

The controversy expanded when La Presse reported that articles attributed to Orélien and published between 2012 and 2014 contained passages also found in previously published work by other authors.

The newspaper said it used Pangram to identify paragraphs that appeared to have been plagiarized.

The Canadian Press has not independently verified the allegations involving the novel or the passages identified in his earlier work.

When CP put an excerpt of the novel through Pangram on Friday, a message on the platform stated the text was “a mix of AI and human-written content.”

Pangram performed well in independent evaluations reported by the scientific journal Nature in August, though researchers caution that AI-detection scores are not definitive proof of authorship.

On Sept. 25, the Académie Goncourt removed the novel from consideration for the Prix Goncourt, one of France’s most prestigious literary awards.

The academy cited analyses it considered credible, along with the separate plagiarism allegations involving Orélien’s previous work.

In a statement published on Sept. 24, Boréal said plagiarism was unacceptable but that it could neither confirm nor refute the allegations of AI use. It said its editorial process, which began with a completed manuscript, did not involve AI.

In Tuesday’s statement, Orélien said he began writing the novel in Laval, north of Montreal, in 2017 and completed a first draft of more than 300 pages in 2019.

The book follows a Haitian man forced to flee his country and make a perilous journey through the Americas to Quebec.

Before the controversy, the novel won the Prix du Roman Fnac and earned nominations for several major French literary awards.

Orélien and Fitoussi did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.