Princess Joy L. Perry is the 2026 Stowe Prize for Literary Activism winner, author of This Here is Love (W.W. Norton & Company, 2025), a powerful historical novel set in the 1690’s that explores love, resistance, and the human cost of oppression. Through evocative and unflinching prose, Perry illuminates the psychological and moral complexities of a society built on bondage, inviting readers to confront the enduring legacy of injustice while recognizing love as a force of survival, connection, and defiance.

Princess Joy L. Perry is the recipient of a Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship and a winner of the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation Award. Her short stories have appeared in All About Skin, African American Review, and Kweli Journal. Her debut novel, This Here is Love (W.W. Norton & Company, 2025), was named one of The New York Times 10 Best Historical Novels of 2025, longlisted for the 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize, selected as a Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and recognized as a BookBrowse Best Book of the Year.

Facilitator

David Perez DeHoyos serves as a Library Coordinator for Freedom Reads. As Library Coordinator, David works closely with Department of Corrections leaders and staff to support increased access to the Freedom Library. He holds a B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Central Connecticut State University and a master’s degree in Counseling with a specialization in Higher Education and Student Development.

 David’s professional journey is deeply intertwined with his personal experiences including a period of incarceration. David channels his past experience into positive change, focusing his work on increasing access to higher education in prisons and bringing awareness to the LGBTQ+ community within the incarcerated population.