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A Cardiff-based Welsh language learner, Romy Wood, expressed deep distress following accusations from judges of a prominent National Eisteddfod writing competition claiming she had relied on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to compose her novel. Wood submitted her work, titled *Y Dderwen*, under the pseudonym Lithedora. The judges—Meinir Wyn Edwards, Llwyd Owen, and Lleucu Roberts—initially condemned the use of AI in such an important literary contest as “disgraceful,” an allegation Wood strongly denies.
The Daniel Owen Memorial Prize, for which Wood’s novel was submitted, is awarded for unpublished works of at least 50,000 words. Entrants in the National Eisteddfod’s main literature competitions compete anonymously, using pseudonyms to uphold the festival’s confidentiality standards. During the award ceremony, judge Meinir Wyn Edwards criticized the novel’s lack of coherent storytelling and described its style as “clumsy, flawed,” suggesting it appeared as if an AI, rather than a human author, had produced the text without a careful review. The judges ultimately placed Wood’s novel at the bottom of the entries.
Wood described her novel as a “personal story” rooted in her family history and said the live broadcast of the adjudicators’ comments, filled with sarcasm and ridicule, left her feeling “personally affronted and upset.” Having never written in Welsh before, Wood revealed that the experience severely undermined her confidence as a Welsh speaker. She reached out to the National Eisteddfod organizers in a letter questioning whether such public mockery during a broadcast was appropriate, yet she stated she has received no response. Wood emphasized the importance of respect, asserting that “sarcasm and rudeness is for the playground, not for an institution like the Eisteddfod.”
The National Eisteddfod explained that its entrants must confirm that their submissions are free of AI-generated content, but there are no automatic methods to detect AI or plagiarism unless works are shortlisted in the top categories. Since Wood’s novel was not highly placed, it was not subjected to further checks. The festival also highlighted the independence of its judges, while stressing the importance of delivering feedback in a respectful and constructive way to avoid discouraging participants. The adjudicators reaffirmed their regret for causing distress but maintained their unanimous belief that the work appeared to have been created by AI. They also expressed optimism about future new authors emerging from the festival, praising the winning novel *Ynys Gwales* by Rebecca Thomas from Cardiff
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