Contact: Mariangie Pena, Director of Marketing
Phone: (860) 522-9258 ext. 321
Email:  MPena@StoweCenter.org

 

175 Years After Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Princess Joy L. Perry Becomes First Woman Novelist Honored with the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism

Award-winning debut novelist available for interviews ahead of September 23 ceremony in Hartford

Hartford, Conn.—One hundred seventy-five years after Harriet Beecher Stowe began serializing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Stowe Center for Literary Activism will honor Princess Joy L. Perry with the 2026 Stowe Prize for Literary Activism for her acclaimed debut novel, This Here Is Love (W. W. Norton & Company). With the award, Perry becomes the first woman novelist to receive the Stowe Prize for a work of fiction.

The honor comes as readers and scholars continue reflecting on the enduring legacy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, first published in serial form in 1851. Like Stowe, Perry introduced her work to readers in periodical form before expanding it into a novel that confronts the enduring consequences of American slavery through deeply human storytelling.

Set in the 1690s, This Here Is Love traces the lives of enslaved and free people in colonial Virginia, exploring how violence, power, survival, and love shaped the earliest foundations of what would become the United States. The novel was named one of The New York Times’ 10 Best Historical Novels of 2025 and has been praised for its unflinching examination of America’s past.

The novel’s origins are rooted in a decade-long journey of historical research. Perry began with a single question: Could a free Black man legally exist in colonial Virginia? The search for that answer led her to the colonial legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem and transformed what began as a novella into an expansive work of historical fiction examining the origins of American slavery.

“This Here Is Love is a powerfully written story of love and resistance despite overwhelming oppression,” said Karen Fisk, Executive Director of the Stowe Center for Literary Activism. “Princess Joy L. Perry reminds us that literature remains one of our most powerful tools for confronting history, cultivating empathy, and imagining a more just future.”

Established in 2011, the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism recognizes a distinguished work of fiction or nonfiction that illuminates a critical social justice issue in the tradition of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Previous recipients include Percival Everett, Bettina L. Love, Ruha Benjamin, Clint Smith, Bryan Stevenson, Michelle Alexander, and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Princess Joy L. Perry will receive the 2026 Stowe Prize at a public ceremony on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism in Hartford, Connecticut. Tickets are available now at StoweCenter.org/Love.

Princess Joy L. Perry is available for interviews in advance of the ceremony to discuss:

  • The decade-long research behind This Here Is Love.
  • Historical fiction as literary activism.
  • The legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe 175 years after Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
  • Writing America’s early history through the lens of love, survival, and resistance.

The Stowe Center encourages social justice and literary activism by exploring the legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe and all who advocate hope and freedom—then and now. We envision a world in which engagement leads to empathy, empowerment, and change for good.

 

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For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Mariangie Pena, Director of Marketing, at MPena@StoweCenter.org or (860) 522-9258 ext. 321.