Political columnist Ross Barkan’s THE REVOLUTIONARY: Zohran Mamdani and the Remaking of American Politics, which was scheduled to publish from Random House on October 6, has disappeared from most retailer sites. Last week, New York magazine announced that an internal review found improper “attribution of language, information and/or sourcing” in 67 of Barkan’s pieces and dropped him as a contributor, the magazine said in a statement. The book is no longer listed on the Penguin Random House website or Edelweiss, or major retailer sites including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart, the Washington Post reports. The book remains on […]
Controversies
Liveright Pulls Kerri K. Greenidge Book From Website Following Controversy
Liveright has removed Kerri K. Greenidge‘s 2022 book The Grimkes from its website following a Tufts University review that turned up multiple factual errors and issues with citation. Greenidge, who was a tenured associate professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts, has left the university. The book had received the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize from the American Historical Association, among other honors. Tufts launched a peer review by external scholars after receiving complaints about errors in the book. The NYT writes, “Several other scholars, who described themselves as skeptical of some of Greenidge’s assertions […]
Commonwealth Prize Review Concludes That “AI Was Not Used to Write the Winning Stories”
The Commonwealth Prize conducted a review of the 2026 finalists, concluding that AI was not used in the prize-winning story. The committee did not use AI tools in the review, opting instead to ask participants. They write that they held “detailed discussions with all regional winners about their creative process” and examined “evidence related to the development of their stories, including working drafts, time-stamped documents and notes.” Earlier this week, Granta discontinued its partnership with the prize, following accusations that three out of the five nominated stories were written with AI. The committee writes, “After a thorough consultation with our […]
Granta Ends Prize Partnerships After AI Fiasco
Granta magazine has ended its “external publishing partnerships,” including one with the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, after accusations that prize-winning stories were written with AI. As part of their partnership, Granta published five winning stories online, though magazine editors didn’t have anything to do with their selection. “Granta editors were not involved with these stories or their selection beyond copy-editing them upon receipt,” a spokesperson for the magazine said at the time. In a release, Granta stated, “For the sake of our own editorial integrity, the Granta Trust board has now taken the decision that we will no longer engage […]
Criticism Over AI in Creation Hits Nobel Winner, a Book About AI, and a UK Prize
What a week yesterday was, as several controversies over AI use in book publishing emerged. During the Poznań Impact event in Poland, Nobel laureate in literature Olga Tokarczuk said that she used AI while working on her next novel, as reported by My Company Polska. Tokarczuk said that she asked an LLM what songs her characters might have danced to in the past. She also expressed support for the technology as a useful tool for writers. “I often throw an idea to the machine for analysis, asking, ‘Honey, how could we develop this beautifully?’,” she said. “Even though I know […]
Commonwealth Foundation and Granta Stand By Short Story After AI Accusations
One winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize has been accused of being AI-generated. Online posts have noted that the AI checker Pangram rated “The Serpent in the Grove” by Jamir Nazir as 100 percent AI-created. Critics of AI detectors note that they are not always accurate; Pangram is among the more well-respected tools. The prize honors five unpublished short stories from the British Commonwealth of Nations. Granta published all five winning stories online. “Granta editors were not involved with these stories or their selection beyond copy-editing them upon receipt,” a spokesperson for the magazine said. “We are alarmed by the speculation that […]