Fantasy writer Lee Young-do’s “The Bird that Drinks Tears” has won the 2026 Prix du livre Cultissime in France, a prize recognizing fiction deemed likely to endure as a future classic. The award went to the first French-language volume of Lee’s four-part fantasy series at the Cultissime Festival in Angers, France. The festival, which celebrates works with lasting popular appeal, announced the winners on Friday. The prize is decided through a vote split equally between the general public and a professional panel. Lee’s novel was selected from five finalists, alongside works by French author Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre, American writer Virginia Evans, Irish novelist John Boyne and French young-adult author Julia Thevenot. In a statement released by Korean publisher Golden Bough, Lee expressed gratitude for the honor and reflected on the solitary nature of writing. “Writers who express themselves only through words, without video or background music, can seem like steadfast artists somewhat ft behind in this luxurious age,” he said. ”But I believe we find strength because