Short Story Accused of Being AI-Written Wins Overall Commonwealth Prize

A story widely accused on social media of being written using AI has gone on to win the overall Commonwealth short story prize.

Jamir Nazir’s story The Serpent in the Grove went viral after being named as a regional winner in mid-May, with critics on X and Bluesky claiming it showed “obvious markers” of AI use. The literary magazine Granta subsequently pulled out of its long-running agreement to publish the Commonwealth winners.

In the wake of the controversy, the Commonwealth Foundation conducted a review of the regional winners, which it said involved looking at drafts, time-stamped documents and notes. “We are satisfied with the testimonies of our writers and their confirmation that AI was not used in their writing,” said foundation director-general Razmi Farook.

- Author: Ella Creamer, The Guardian

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