Authors dropped from literary prize over covers made with AI

The books of two award-winning New Zealand authors have been disqualified from consideration for the country's top literature prize because artificial intelligence was used in the creation of their cover designs.

- Eva Corlett

Stephanie Johnson's collection of short stories Obligate Carnivore and Elizabeth Smither's collection of novellas Angel Train were submitted to the 2026 Ockham book awards' NZ$65,000 (£28,000) fiction prize in October, but were ruled out of the competition the following month in light of new guidelines around AI use.

The publisher of both books, Quentin Wilson, said the awards committee amended the guidelines in August, by which time the covers of every book submitted for the awards would have already been designed.

"It was, therefore, far too late for any publisher to have taken this clause into account in their design briefs," Wilson told the Guardian.

"It is obviously heartbreaking that two wonderful pieces of fiction by highly respected authors have become embroiled in this issue, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with their writing."

Wilson said it was also upsetting for the production and design team, who had worked hard on the books.