Marseille’s Prix de l’Évêché: defining <i>polars du Sud</i> in France’s “Capitale de la littérature du crime”

Launched in 2018, Marseille’s Prix de l’Évêché has quickly established itself as a reference for crime novels written in French and that take place in southern France. This article analyzes both the mechanics of the prize (how the jury operates, which criteria are prioritized) as well as its literary (thematic) results. Hence, it aims to answer the following questions: 1) what characteristics do the first seven prizewinning novels share? and 2) how are these novels contributing to a new understanding of “polars du Sud” as a literary genre? Bakhtin’s chronotope elucidates how the prize recognizes novels that are both deeply connected to southern France while also accepting the presence of broader forces that extend beyond one specific location. These selections also serve to establish Marseille as a new “capitale de la littérature du crime,” where literature and culture more broadly can provide an antidote to the complexities of the social and political challenges the city faces.