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, D.E.E.P. garnered a Pushcart nomination, was named a finalist for the 2019 Writer’s League of Texas Book Award, and received honorable mention for the Summerlee Book Prize for her recent poetry collection, Newsworthy. Its German translation, entitled "Berichtenswert," was released in the Summer of 2021 by Elif Verlag. The opera, Marian’s Song, for which she wrote the libretto, debuted in 2020 to roaring reviews. As a finalist for Texas State Poet Laureate, a Kennedy Center Citizen fellowship, and the prestigious Breadloaf Retreat, she has created work that has been highlighted and studied in Canada, England, New Zealand, and Germany. She recently performed as a part of the Kennedy Center's Arts Across America virtual performance and was named a Houston Artist Commissioning Project award winner by the Society for the Performing Arts Houston. Her second book, Black Chameleon is forthcoming by Henry Holt & Co. A storybook opera, entitled "Lula, the Mighty Warrior", which reinterprets one of the stories from Black Chameleon recently debuted with the Houston Grand Opera. She lives and creates in Houston, TX. For more information visit www.LiveLifeDeep.com