DEBORAH D.E.E.P. MOUTON
LIBRETTIST
BIOGRAPHY
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton is an internationally known writer, educator, activist, performer, and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, Texas. Formerly ranked the #2 Best Female Performance Poet in the World (PSI), Her work has appeared in Houston Noir by Akashic Press (2019), Black Girl Magic by Haymarket Books (2019), the Texas Observer, and Fjords Journal, and on such platforms as NPR, BBC, ABC, Apple News, Blavity, Upworthy, and across the TedX circuit. Honored by Houston Business Journal as a part of their 2021 40 Under 40 class, she has served as a contributing writer to Texas Monthly, Glamour Magazine, and ESPN’s The Undefeated. Her second book, Black Chameleon, published by Henry Holt & Co, débuted in the spring of 2023. This stirring new memoir combines new mythology with powerful lyricism.
Last season, Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson had its world premiere at STAGES Houston, for which D.E.E.P. directed and wrote the book. She also performed in Unisonfor Da Camera Society of Texas, for which she also wrote poems. Commissions for this season include for the Apollo Chamber Players and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. [read more...]
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"The libretto, by Houston Poet Laureate Emeritus Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, is clear-eyed and quietly confrontational." – Houston Chronicle
Marian's Song – "Among its loftier artistic achievements, “Marian’s Song” packed a lot of history, and a lot of subtext, into a similar running time as the average Netflix drama. The libretto, by Houston Poet Laureate Emeritus Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, is clear-eyed and quietly confrontational."
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"Deborah is a phenomenal poet and spoken-word artist…" – Arts and Culture Texas
Marian's Song – "Deborah is a phenomenal poet and spoken-word artist… It has never been done this way, the way Deborah has done it, which is very ingenious… Having the spoken word take place while there’s singing going on is a very delicate, intricate thing to do.”