Contact: Mariangie Pena, Stowe Center for Literary Activism
Phone: 860.522.9258 Ext. 321
Email: MPena@StoweCenter.org
One Question About Freedom Led to a Decade-Long Journey Through History
The Stowe Center for Literary Activism honors Princess Joy L. Perry and her debut novel, This Here Is Love, with the 2026 Stowe Prize for Literary Activism.
HARTFORD, Conn. – A ten-year journey began with a question. The question was about history.
In 2016, while teaching English Literature and Composition at Old Dominion University and publishing short stories, Princess Joy L. Perry started a novella. In this 18th-centruy novella, there would be a free Black man who embodied freedom. Princess was curious about this man’s legal right to freedom. Is there a law that would grant him this? “I was seeking answers.”
And she found them. One answer was a law passed Virginia in 1662 called “partus sequitur ventrem.” This law solidified that during American chattel slavery, the children of Black enslaved mothers would also be enslaved. “Partus” enabled American slavery to be generative and to ensure a class of free labor. So, the only way for her character to be a free Black man was for his mother to be a white woman.
This answer kindled more questions.
On the train, on the back porch, in the guest room, at the desk, flipping through the pages of Edward P. Jones, Princess was searching. Her search brought her further and further back in time to the late 17 century. With her search, the core ideas of her story became clearer. How can oppressed people, after being given power, oppress others; and where and how do the oppressed find the strength to survive?
With every new draft of the novella, Princess’s agent and her team found sections for her flesh out. The novella began stretching and expanding. Characters that have been curated for years were removed, but new characters were made. Anna left, but her absence made Andrew, Pheobe, Jozachar, and Bill. A father, a mother, a wonderer, a benefactor. With this cast came pages and pages and with it a realization.
On a writing retreat during the endless walking back and forth with an idea, Princess realized what her novella is becoming: “I think I am writing a novel!” This was an overbearing truth, because pursuing this novel would mean sacrificing the next ten years of her life. She would then finish her debut in her 50s. But the core of this story empowered Princess’s hand to type the story. An origin story of violence, dehumanization, power, survival, and love that are at the roots of what will become the United States. Finally in 2025, after almost a decade, Princess would publish This Here is Love.
At Princess’s desk there are objects displayed to motivate and guide her. One set of these objects is Mammy figurines. She started collecting them around eight years ago, when Princess saw one at an antique store with her sister. Her sister was very surprised. During my interview with Princess, I asked why she started collecting them: “I want to bring them home. I want to tell their story.”
Princess Joy L. Perry brought them home and told their story.
The Stowe Center for Literary Activism is thrilled to offer Princess Joy L. Perry the 2026 Stowe Prize and to celebrate her and This Here is Love on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
The Stowe Center honors Stowe’s legacy of resistance to oppression through literary activism by amplifying the voices of those who advocate hope and freedom both then and now, such as Princess Joy L. Perry and all our previous Stowe Prize winners.
Tickets for the 2026 Stowe Prize are available now. For more information about the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism, visit StoweCenter.org/Love.
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.
