On the occasion of his debut novel, author P.C. Verrone will be in conversation with Jerry L. Hawkins to discuss Rabbit, Fox, Tar (Catapult) and at Deep Vellum Books at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, June 2nd. Come celebrate the book launch of a local Dallas novelist with us!
A mesmerizing, fable-like debut novel about a mysterious young Black woman whose arrival in an insular neighborhood threatens to shake its foundations
When Baby appears in Original Hill, her name is on everyone’s lips. A young Black woman is a rare sight in this part of town, and she sits all day on the Foxes’ garden wall, swinging her bare feet and speaking to no one. That is, until the charismatic Lucius “Lucky” Foote comes along and touches her, sparking their romance. Arm-in-arm with Baby, who seems to exert a seemingly supernatural pull on the other residents, Lucky is confident he will secure the open city council seat away from Baby’s uncle Eugene Fox, the back-from-retirement white incumbent.
With protestors reopening old wounds around the Black neighborhood that was leveled by the nearby highway decades ago and Lucky threatening his position, Fox believes it’s not just a city council seat at stake, but the “soul” of Original Hill.
As Baby is woven further into the unraveling community, she begins to stray from Fox’s strict rules and question everything, from where she came from to who—and what—she truly is.
Photo by Jordan Villegas-Verrone
P.C. Verrone's work has appeared in FIYAH, PodCastle, Nightmare, and numerous anthologies. He has been a Tin House Resident, a Playwrights’ Center Fellow, and a WNDB Black Creatives Revisions Workshop winner. He graduated from Harvard College and holds an MFA in creative writing from Rutgers University–Newark. He lives in Dallas with his husband, a historian.
Jerry L. Hawkins, M.Ed. is an artist, educator, archivist, historian, futurist, Presidential Leadership Scholar, and Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer and Narrator for the “Recovering The Stories: Exploring the History and Resilience in Dallas Communities” PBS/KERA Documentary Series. For 7 years, Jerry served as the Founding Executive Director of Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation, an initiative of W.K. Kellogg Foundation & Communities Foundation of Texas, and was the Founding Project Director of Bachman Lake Together for The Dallas Foundation. Jerry is the founder of The Hawkins Archives & Works (thaw) and the writer of “Archiving The Future” for Nasher Sculpture Center’s Fall 2024 Magazine, 2025 Dr. Harry Robinson, Jr. Legacy Award winner, and was selected as one of D Magazine’s “Dallas 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders” in 2021 and 2022. Jerry currently serves as the Executive Director of Chicago United for Equity, and the Community History Fellow in Residence and Director of Equity Initiatives at First Unitarian Church in Dallas. Born and raised in Chicago, Jerry has previously worked for Chicago Urban League and Chicago Public Schools, and is the proud father of Trinity, Jaali, Asha and Xolani.