After a month-long investigation it was concluded that Kundizeza’s story The Blue Fighter, which won the £10,000 Caine prize, was ‘human-written’
Zimbabwean author Simbarashe Kundizeza has been cleared of using AI to write a prize-winning short story, after the prestigious Caine prize for African writers concluded that his entry was “human-written” after a month-long investigation.
Kundizeza’s story The Blue Fighter, which charts the declining fortunes of a family after the father invests in fish tanks, was announced as the winner of the £10,000 prize on 6 October.
Five days later, the Atlantic published an article titled: “Yet another literary prize winner seems to be AI,” in which author and journalist Vauhini Vara said AI-detection software Pangram, which itself uses AI, had deemed the story to be almost completely artificially generated.
Caine prize chair Ellah Wakatama said in a statement: “From our detailed investigation, we feel the evidence is clear: The Blue Fighter was human-written. We now look forward to awarding and celebrating Simbarashe Steyn Kundizeza … before the end of the year.”
She said: “When concerns were raised, we have a duty as an organisation to look at them carefully and fairly,” adding that the prize had taken a “human-centred” approach to its investigation.
“Our review included interviews with the author, the 2026 judging panel and The Shallow Tales Review…
