The allegations have come from a number of readers, many of whom are the authors themselves, who have expressed surprise and dismay that the awards jury might have overlooked potential signs of inauthentic authorship.
Each year, the Commonwealth Foundation, a London-based non-governmental organization, awards its short story prize to a writer in each of five regions: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific. An overall winner is then selected from that short list. Regional winners take home £2,500 (about $3,350), while the top winner, who will be announced next month, claims £5,000 (about $6,700).
On 12 May, the prestigious UK literary magazine Granta published the top five 2026 entries on its website – previously unpublished in accordance with the rules of the competition. (It has been hosting the award-winning presentations since 2012.)
However, within a few days an entry raised doubts. The story “The Serpent in the Grove” by Trinidad and Tobago’s Jamir Nazeer, which won the honor for the Caribbean region, influenced some of the stylistic stories of AI-generated text.
Nabil S., former visiting scholar, researcher and entrepreneur in AI at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “Well, this is a first: a ChatGPIT-generated story has won a prestigious literary award,” Qureshi wrote in a post on X on Monday. “‘Not
“They say the grove still hums at noon,” begins Nazir’s mysterious and atmospheric story. In his screenshot of the opening paragraphs, Qureshi highlights the second line, which he considers a signature example of AI syntax: “Not the neat industry of bees or the neat sound of a cutlass on the vine, but the sound of a stomach – as if the earth swallows a scream and holds it there.”
As the literary community took a closer look at Nazir’s story, many criticized its language and metaphors as redundant, wondering how Commonwealth judges could find any merit in them. Others shared screenshots showing that AI-detection tool Pangram marked “The Serpent in the Grove” as 100 percent AI-generated, a result that WIRED independently confirmed. (Although no AI-detection software is perfect, third-party analysis has consistently determined Pangram to be the most accurate, with a rate of false positives near zero.)
Nazir did not respond to a request for comment sent through the email address listed on his Facebook page. Posts on that account and the LinkedIn profile of one Zamir Nazir in Trinidad and Tobago also scan as AI-generated on Pangram. Although there was some speculation that Nazir himself might have been an entirely AI-generated personality, a 2018 article in the Trinidad and Tobago edition of The Guardian about his self-published poetry collection night moon love-which includes a photo of Nazir holding the book – suggesting that he is a real person.
WIRED contacted both Granta and the Commonwealth Foundation about Nazir’s story; Neither commented directly, but both issued public statements.
Razmi Farooq, director general of the Commonwealth Foundation, wrote in a statement on the organization’s website: ‘We are aware of the allegations and discussion regarding generative AI and our short story prize. “We take these claims seriously and are committed to responding to them with care and transparency.” Farooq described the judging process for the award as “robust”, with multiple rounds of readers and top-level judges selected for their “expertise”.
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