Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton

Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is an award-winning author, librettist, playwright, director, performer, critic, and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, TX. Her genre-bending works span from stage to page. She penned stage works including She Who Dared (Chicago Opera Theater, 2025), Future of Dreams (Kennedy Center, 2025) Marian's Song (Houston Grand Opera, 2020), Atlanta: 1906 (Atlanta Opera 2022) & On My Mind (Opera Theater St. Louis, 2023). Serving as Playwright/Director, she produced The World's Intermission, commissioned by Performing Arts Houston (Jones Hall), and Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson, a choreopoem (Stages Theater) which made the cover of the NYT Culture section. Alongside these longer works, she has written song cycles for Russel Thomas and LA Opera & Joshua Conyers (including the title tracks to his Billboard Top Ten Album A Miracle in Legacy).