The Stowe Prize for Literary Activism is our biggest event of the year, and the generosity of our Friends and sponsors makes it possible. As we explore the powerful history and tradition of literary activism as a major force for positive change, the Stowe Prize allows us to connect the past to the present in ways that sustain hope and fuel our shared work for justice.

Karen Fisk and 2026 Stowe Prize winner Princess Joy L. Perry with representatives from The Hartford, our Stowe Prize Legacy Sponsor, on a tour of the Stowe House.

Like Harriet Beecher Stowe, we find ourselves in a difficult moment in American history—deeply divided. With This Here Is Love, Princess Joy L. Perry explores the complexities of a society built on bondage, humanizing each character, acknowledging painful truths and cultivating empathy with each page.

How can a nation find the strength to survive an enduring legacy of injustice?

Princess Joy L. Perry finds her book in the Gallery for Hope and Freedom (located on the second floor of the Stowe House) alongside fellow Stowe Prize-winning books and works of literary activism.

Princess Perry’s answer, of course, is love: “We must make love our profound act of resistance.”

Perry told us this truth on September 23rd as she accepted the honor of being the 2026 Stowe Prize winner. She read from her prize-winning novel, and then shared warm, funny, and probing conversation with her best friend and fellow writer Remica Bingham-Risher.

When asked about how she would define literary activism, Perry responded:

“Literary activism is a book that makes me see, feel, understand something about a person I didn’t know before and that I see them closer to their fullness and closer to the way they want to be seen and understood in the world.”

Princess Joy L. Perry, Dr. Michael Mallery, Jr. (Chair, Stowe Prize Selection Committee), and Remica Bingham-Risher at the Stowe Prize sponsor reception.

The livestream of the public program is available on our YouTube channel now. This is a great opportunity to experience the event for the first time if you weren’t able to attend in person or listen back to some of your favorite moments.

Community in dialogue in advance of the Stowe Prize public program.

Because of you, Friends of Stowe, we raised $125,072 to help sustain our mission and gather readers together to celebrate love as a profound act of resistance.  Thank you!

Casey Grambo is the Director of Development at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism, where she works closely with supporters to advance the Center’s mission of social justice and literary activism. A fundraising professional, artist, producer, teacher, and activist, she brings more than a decade of experience in arts and nonprofit development to inspire engagement that fosters empathy, empowerment, and lasting change.