The Violeta Negra Prize is a literary award that honors translated works from languages categorized as "language of the South." This prize has been a central part of the Toulouse Polars du Sud festival for 15 years. For its 2026 edition, five novels from Italy, Spain, Greece, and Israel have been selected. The winner will be announced during the festival, which is scheduled from 9 to 11 October in Toulouse. The festival defines "language of the South" to include Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Turkish, or Arabic, though it allows for other languages to be considered as well. The prize highlights both foreign literatures and their translations into French. Each of the five selected books in 2026 includes the name of their translator. Supported by the Occitanie Region, the prize is presented as a way to showcase the region's openness to "the great Mediterranean space." The 2026 selection includes five titles: Black Cliff, by Cristina Cassar Scalia, published by L'Archipel, is translated from Italian by Nathalie Bouyssès. Susana Fortes is competing with The Disappeared of As Covas, also published by L'Archipel, in a translation from Spanish signed by Martine Desoille. Greek literature is represented by The Tree of Judas, published by Agullo, translated by Clara Nizzoli, with Michalis Makropoulos as the author. Another Spanish entry, Balanegra by Marto Pariente, is published by Gallimard in the Série Noire collection and translated by Sébastien Rutés. Finally, The Night of the Hacker by Yishaï Sarid is published by Actes Sud in the Actes Noirs collection, with Rosie Pinhas Delpuech translating from Hebrew. The Violeta Negra jury includes booksellers, librarians, journalists, and members of the Toulouse Polars du Sud association. This year, the presidency is held by Hortense de Roquette, a lawyer at the Toulouse bar and founder of Fahrenheit, a legal service focused on the cultural sector. The festival's dossier also describes her as a passionate lover of literary works. The prize will be awarded on 11 October during the Toulouse Polars du Sud festival. The festival, which includes the Violeta Negra as one of its literary awards, is holding its 18th edition from 9 to 11 October 2026 and will bring together about forty authors from seven countries. The Violeta Negra also has its own trophy: The Black Brick, created especially by the artist PAVAN. The object features two symbols associated with the prize and Toulouse: a violet is carved into a Toulouse brick turned black, referencing the noir genre. The festival's dossier describes this piece as an extension of PAVAN's material work, a self-taught artist who works directly on objects, often focusing on bodies, faces, and silhouettes. PAVAN is already familiar with the prize, having chaired the jury in 2021 before proposing to Toulouse Polars du Sud to create the trophy.