Claude Mesplède was an editor, critic, historian, an enlightened amateur and passionate about crime fiction. He was also a friend and traveling companion of Quais du Polar, having taken part in its birth and all its developments. He has carried out irreplaceable work to disseminate and transmit a culture of crime fiction, through numerous critical texts, articles, essays, studies, collective works, reviews, conferences and prefaces, as well as his monumental Dictionary of Police Literature.

It is to pay tribute to him and extend his work that we have created the Claude Mesplède / Quais du Polar Prize for non-fiction books on crime.

Each year, the prize is awarded to a work that contributes to a better understanding of the polar genre, as an essay, historical work, correspondence, document, survey, translation, first edition of complete or unpublished works, new translation or academic work. Audiovisual works are also eligible.

“A few years ago, “we” were whispering that Claude Mesplède could well receive the medal of arts and letters. And since “I” had been asked for my opinion on the matter before taking steps relating to this type of circumstance, I had indicated that Claude did not want a medal of any kind. He had already refused a job offer despite his 40 years of work at Air France!

What Claude would have liked was the Paul Féval prize for popular literature. But this prize is only awarded to authors who write popular novels. He wrote ABOUT popular novels and therefore did not fall into this category.

Also see the birth, thanks to Quais du Polar whom I thank very sincerely, a prize bearing the name of Claude Mesplède which will reward a choice of: essay, historical work, correspondence, document, investigation, translation, first edition of complete or unpublished works, new translations or even academic and university works… it’s huge!

And it is ultimately, by honoring his memory, a nice reversal of fate. Claude would have been very proud that a prize bore his name and surely a little amazed at such an honor.

And those who plan to write about the work of Paul Féval get to work very quickly. You never know…” – Ida Mesplède