On July 6th, 2026, the editorial team of Translunar Travelers Lounge learned that an author we had published in our fourteenth issue, which came out in February, had been accused of using generative AI and multiple pseudonyms to have her work published in a number of speculative fictions markets over the last year.
Upon hearing about these allegations, we conducted our own internal investigation. Bella Chacha, aka Irene W. Collins, violated our submission guidelines in several ways, including submitting multiple times during a submission period using different pseudonyms. Her story “The Wheelchair God of Ibadan” has been removed from the website, and she will not be allowed to submit further stories to Translunar Travelers Lounge. We have sent an email to the author informing her of this decision.
The Translunar Travelers Lounge team, which is comprised of writers and readers, highly values integrity and creativity. Bella Chacha violated both with her submissions. We were both infuriated and saddened by this incident, and we wish to maintain that dedication to our values. It has also energized us to ensure this scenario does not repeat in the future.
The editorial team is discussing how to adjust our submission process, slush reading and due diligence to identify works with generative AI. Current changes include updating the slush reading process on Moksha, researching 2026 gen-AI “tells,” and engaging with authors and their publishing history. We will not use any AI detection tools, given the unforgivably high rate of false positives and the fact that those tools were trained on pirated works.
As the field of generative AI is constantly changing, there is no foolproof method of identifying a work as AI, and we are strongly opposed to damaging the careers of new authors with false accusations. Works in translation, works from authors whose first language isn’t English, works from non-Western cultures, and works from previously unpublished authors all face an even higher risk of being misidentified as AI, and we want to make sure those authors don’t face undue persecution.
We will do our best to catch any more AI-generated stories before they are published, but we will make mistakes, and we appreciate your patience as we enter this new era of speculative fiction publication.
Please direct further questions and inquiries towards editors Bennett North and Priya Sridhar.
Further reading:
- Bona Books: “Honey, We Bought an AI Story”
- Reckoning: “AI”
- Heartlines Spec: “Statement on AI”
- Cast of Wonders “659: The Archive of Unnamed Joy”
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