Zimbabwean author denies AI allegations after winning African writing prize

Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using AI to write his short story "The Blue Fighter," which won the Caine Prize for African Writing in October 2026. The prize is worth 10,000 British pounds.

The Atlantic magazine reported that an AI detection tool called Pangram found the story was almost entirely machine-generated. Kundizeza rejected this. He said the story was inspired by a poem he heard at an event in Ghana and drew on his family's experiences during Zimbabwe's economic crisis around 2002. He also suggested that AI detection tools can be biased.

The prize organisers have started a review of the case. Several other literary prizes faced similar allegations in 2026, including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and France's Goncourt Prize.