Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is an award-winning writer, director, performer, critic, and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, TX. Her genre-bending works span from stage to page, and everything in between. She is the author of Newsworthy (Bloomsday Literary, 2019) which was translated into German (Berichtenswert, Elif Verlag, 2020), Black Chameleon (Henry Holt, 2023), and an upcoming children’s book, Hush Hush Hurricane (Kokila Books, 2027). Honored as part of Houston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 class, she has been a contributing writer for Glamour, Texas Monthly, Muzzle, and ESPN’s Andscape, to name a few.

​Playwright of six operas and a handful of plays, Her most recent choreopoem, PLUMSHUGA: The rise of Lauren Anderson, debuted at Stages Theater and made the cover of the NY Times Culture Section. Her recent opera, She Who Dared, composed by Jasmine Barnes, (The first professionally produced opera written by two Black women) debuted in Spring 2025 at Chicago Opera Theater. Her memoir, Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co, 2023), recently won the Carr P. Collins award for Best Nonfiction through the Texas Institute of Letters (2024). Her upcoming Immersive Art Installation, the Call Me Mother Experience, is set to open in  October 2026 at the Health Museum in Houston, TX.