The Quais du Polar professional program
At the heart of the Quais du Polar festival, Polar Connection marks a special milestone on the agenda of crime fiction professionals. A common interest in the genre has brought together all these French and international actors for numerous editions. An event which is above all a platform conducive to exchange, reflection and collaboration.
Located at the Palais de la Bourse, Polar Connection was designed as a complete toolbox intended for book, audiovisual, digital, cultural action professionals, and well beyond. During three intense days, participants will have the opportunity to explore the infinite potential of the thriller genre and the current topics of the creative industries linked to it, through discussions, workshops, and inspiring meetings. The program also promotes BtoB meetings and opportunities to make contacts, particularly around convivial events such as cocktails.
See you in 2026, from April 3 to 5, for another edition of Polar Connection!
Strong points:
– Panel discussions : Expert speakers discuss together the major issues of their professions, thus offering an in-depth vision of the world of crime fiction.
– Formal and informal meetings : The Palais de la Bourse with its Polar Connection Lounge in first floor becomes the ideal place for BtoB exchanges, promoting interconnection between professionals in the field.
– Toolbox : Polar Connection aims to provide participants with a toolbox helping them to exploit the full potential of crime fiction in their different fields of activity.
– Source of Inspiration : Quais du Polar serves as a reference and source of inspiration through its abundance and diversity of its programming. The independent booksellers running the festival’s Grande Librairie play a role of recommendation and encourage location finding.
The professional program is accessible by accreditation.
The 2025 program
The detailed program can be downloaded below.
Here’s an overview of this year’s meeting and round-table topics.
Friday, April 4th
MORNING
Round table – Which links between noir writers and territories
The key issues – literary, economic, societal… – of the territorial roots of a novel and its author.
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Meeting / Workshop – Police experts at the service of authors
When a screenplay or novel calls for a point of view based on reality, what resources and collaborations are needed? Case study based on Cold Cases.
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Focus – How to take the pulse of thriller readers ?
The rise of online communities and media has transformed the relationship with readers. What opportunities and tools does this offer for professionals in the thriller industry?
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Case study – MILAN, Unesco Creative City of Lieterature
Milan and Lyon are members of the Unesco Creative Citues of Literature network.
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Polar en Séries – Scelf award ceremony
Presentation, in the form of pitches, of the selection and announcement of the 2025 winner
AFTERNOON
Meeting / Workshop – A 4-handed thriller to cross the borders
A review of a collaborative writing experience between Italy and France that brings together two authors around a common plot and explores the links between two cities, two countries.
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Case study – Surface : from novel to screen
Talk to the protagonists of the series adaptation of Olivier Norek’s novel, to find out about its challenges and creative choices.
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Round table – English-langage crime fiction : geography, market and author’s circulation
From the area of geographical influence to the structure of the market, from literary exchange flows to helping authors publish in English.
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Round table – Polar on screen : borders and blending genres
Trends and renewal of the genre through fusion or hybridation?
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Workshop – International Networking
Meet international Polar Connection participants to find out about their activities, projects and expectations, and exchange views on the genre and polar events.
Saturday, April 5th
All meetings will take place in the Salon Polar Connection – Salle Jacquard at the Palais de la Bourse.
MORNING
Welcome breakfast – Spotlight on the “book influencers” with the support of Editions du Gros Caillou.
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Presentation by 8 French publishers of their latest publications
Gros Caillou, Robert Laffont, Le Seuil, L’Aube, La Martinière, Hachette – Black Lab, Gallimard Série Noire – La Noire, Albin Michel.
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AFTERNOON
Case study – Cross-fertilizing inspiration in the world the Bureau des légendes
From the Bureau des légendes to the novel Les Mouettes: an ecosystem linking publishing and audiovisual production
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Pitchs for Polar / Thriller projects in development – Film & audiovisual
A selection of 5 projects in development for the screen, presented by their authors in response to a call for projects launched in partnership with the screenwriters’ association Le 7e Scénar.
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Influencers / Authors / Lisez ! meetings
followed by a cocktail aperitif with Lisez !
Sunday news !
Two new events will be added to the already extensive professional program.
Rendez-vous Polar Connection
Meet the publishers of Actes Sud / Le Rouergue / Rivages and their authors.
followed by an aperitif cocktail hosted by Actes Sud Diffusion.
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Professional Master class on the narrative arc
The fundamental principles of this powerful narrative tool will be explained in several stages : the rules for building a narrative arc (or transformational character arc) and the three main types of arcs – positive, negative or neutral.
The "Extras" !
Polar Connection partners offer “Extras” to enrich the professional experience of accredited riders. This year :
– Meeting with Interpol experts
– Guided tour “The book’s metamorphoses” – Musée de l’Imprimerie
The Polar en Séries - Scelf prize
The Polar en Séries – Scelf prize 2025 promotes the literary production of French-speaking crime fiction by highlighting works for their potential for adaptation into an audiovisual series. Created in collaboration with the SCELF – Civil Society of French Language Publishers – this prize is part of Polar Connection’s professional meetings, thus creating an essential bridge between the world of books and audiovisual.
The Polar en Séries – Scelf prize rewards a French-speaking noir novel, thriller, or crime fiction for its intrinsic qualities and its adaptation potential. The selected works illustrate literary creation in the polar genre and offer rich perspectives for a series adaptation.
Polar en séries is based on a call for applications launched from publishers specialized in crime fiction. The books running for the 2025 edition were :
- Poker (Volumes 1 and 2), by Derrien & Simon Van Liemt, Le Lombard, 2009
- Bleus, blancs, rouges, by Benjamin Dierstein, Editions Flammarion, 2025
- Un pays sans chemin, by Eric Goffin, Editions du Rouergue, 2025
- Les âmes fragmentées, by Charlotte Monsarrat, Editions Anne Carrière, 2023
- Les bons sentiments, by Karine Sulpice, Liana Levi, 2024
- Huitième section, by Marc Trévidic, Gallimard, 2024
As the Polar en Séries prize is an integral part of the Polar Connection program, it was awarded on Friday 4 April 2025, following a presentation of the finalists’ works by the publishers themselves at the Chapelle de la Trinité.
The 2025 winner is none other than Benjamin Dierstein, author of Bleus, blancs, rouges. A veritable plunge into the intelligence world of the late 1970s, Bleus, blancs, rouges offers a wide-ranging historical and political fresco on this troubled period of social unrest.
The jury for the 11th edition of the Polar en séries prize : Michel ABOUCHAHLA, president of Écran Total ; Matthieu DONCK, producer (La Trêve (saison 1 et 2), Des gens bien…) ; Aurélie INIESTA, producer, Gaumont télévision (Le Signal…) ; Lamara LEPRÊTRE-HABIB, screenwriter (D’argent et de sang, Les Monstres, Dans l’ombre…) ; Fanny FROMENTAL, Literary Adaptations Executive, Studiocanal Stories ; Carole LE BERRE, program advisor, Unité Fiction, France Télévision ; Xavier LEHERPEUR, journalist, film and series critic (France Inter) ; Véra PELTEKIAN, vice-president in charge of original French productions, HBO Max, at Warner Media International
Download the Polar en Séries 2025 booklet here.
The 4-handed polar
Among the highlights of this edition, we include the presentation of the 4-handed polar. A collaborative writing project between two authors, one French and the other from a crime town, their 4-handed thrillers already form a collection with the complicity of Points editions.
This year, the 4-Handed Polar is the result of a collaboration between France and Italy, with French novelist Michèle Pedinielli and Italian author Valerio Varesi alternating their pens in a story set between Lyon and Milan.
Entitled Les Contrebandiers, this polyphonic novel revolves around a mysterious investigation in which cigarette smuggling and human trafficking are intimately linked…
As part of Polar Connection, the authors, editors and translator will meet to discuss their creative process and their perceptions of the borders at the heart of their story.
Le Steve McQueen, by Tim Willocks and Caryl Férey between Manchester and Lyon has been presented at Quais du Polar 2024.
Find the details of the Polar 4 hands 2024, Le Steve McQueen, as well as the archives of projects from previous years on the page The international festival.
This project benefits from the support provided by the French Institute / City and Metropolis of Lyon agreement.
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The archives
- Polar Connection Program 2025
- Polar en séries 2025 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2024
- Polar en séries 2024 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2023
- Polar en séries 2023 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2022
- Polar en séries 2022 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2021
- Polar en séries 2021 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2020
- Polar en séries 2020 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2019
- Polar en séries 2019 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2018
- Polar en séries 2018 booklet
- Polar Connection Program 2017
- Polar Connection Program 2016
Our partners in 2025
