Haitian-Canadian novelist Thélyson Orélien denies that his breakthrough debut novel, *It Was Either That or Die*, was written with artificial intelligence, following a public backlash and the book’s removal from a French prize shortlist. In his first detailed response since the controversy began, Orélien says “not a single sentence” in the novel was produced by a machine.
At the same time, outlets report Orélien acknowledges problems connected to earlier accusations of plagiarism. France 24 characterizes his admissions as “unacceptable mistakes” tied to prior works, while The New York Times reports that he rejects the AI claims but admits plagiarism. The reports also note that Orélien had been silent for about a week before his response, with the dispute framed by different outlets as both an AI authorship controversy and a plagiarism issue.
Overall, sources agree the scandal centres on claims about method of writing—AI use versus human authorship—alongside separate, acknowledged concerns about plagiarism in earlier material.
