To mark the 21st edition of the Quais du Polar international festival, the festival is organizing its traditional short story competitions!
Adults and children, take up your pens and keyboards to become the next winner of the adult or youth short story competition. Good luck to you all!
ADULT SHORT STORIES CONTEST
Quais du Polar and Babelio, in partnership with SOS MEDITERRANNE, invite you to take part in their annual writing contest, supported by Michel Bussi. Fans of writing and thrillers, this competition invites you to explore sea crossings’ mysteries and human dramas with force and sensitivity, under the theme “Crossings”.
> To find out more about SOS Méditerranée and to support them, visit their website.
The winner will be announced, and the prize awarded on April 4, 2025, during the Quais du Polar festival. The winning author will be published in digital format on the Babelio website in July 2025. A set of books will be offered by Les Presses de la Cité.
Your noir or detective story of maximum 30,000 characters (including spaces) must be written in French to enter the competition.
To enter the competition : concoursdenouvelles@quaisdupolar.com.
Deadline: Sunday, February 16, 2025.
YOUTH SHORT STORIES CONTEST
Quais du Polar is once again collaborating with Les Artisans de la fiction for this year’s youth short story contest, with Jean-Luc Marcastel supporting the contest. This year, participants will have to write a noir or detective story “at the frontiers of reality”, adding a fantastic element to their tale: a supernatural companion or antagonist, a magical power, a marvellous place… And, of course, following the codes of detective fiction and noir: suspense, mystery, investigation and action!
Short stories can be written by individuals, groups or classes by participants aged 11 to 15 (6th to 3rd grades).
Your noir or detective story should be no more than 8,000 characters long (including spaces) and must be written in french to enter the competition.
To enter the competition: concoursdenouvelles@quaisdupolar.com.
Deadline: Sunday, February 16, 2025.