The current Poet Laureate of Houston, Deborah
D.E.E.P. Mouton has established herself as a notable force in the
performance and literary world. Formerly ranked the #2 Best female
Poet in the World, she has been impactful on and off stage.
She published her first collection of poetry at
the tender age of 19. From there, she went onto compete at CUPSI
as a member of the 2004 University of Michigan Slam Team while
simultaneously touring with the WordWorks Poetry Troupe across the
Midwest.
After falling in love with the national poetry
scene, she moved to Houston and became a member of the 2007
Houston Poetry Slam Team. After this experience, she, and a few
friends, set out to establish a new voice for the city of Houston
forming the H-Town slam team (which now operates as the Houston
VIP Slam Team). D.E.E.P. was a 3-time Grand Slam Champ and 10 year
Coach and Slammaster of Houston VIP. In 2011, she coached the team
to the National Group Piece Finals where they were ranked 6th in
the nation. In 2012, under her coaching, VIP moved onto be ranked
4th in the Southwest at the Southwest Shootout Regional Slam. By
2014, the team were semi-finalists at the National Poetry Slam in
Oakland, CA. This year, the team returned to the Semi-final stage
and were ranked 14 out of 72 teams in the world. Simultaneously,
the youth team, Meta-four Houston which represented Houston at the
Brave New Voices International Poetry Competition made their
Semi-final stage under D.E.E.P.'s leadership.
She released her first full-length album in 2009
titled "The Unfinished Work of a Genius". It is a collection of
original songs and poems that explore ideas around spirituality
and personal growth. Her sophomore album, "Beautiful Rebellion"
was released in 2015. It explores more socially themed poems. She
has been featured on Upworthy, Blavity, Button Poetry, Write About
Now, and the National Poetry Slam Youtube Channel.
She has also served as the opening acts for such
artists as Talib Kweli, MC Lyte, Amiri Baraka, John Legend, Slum
Village, Karen Clark-Shield, Def Poet Sunni Patterson, Def Comedy
Jam's Rodman, Regie Gibson, Buddy Wakefield, Danez Smith and
multiple local and national political figures.
On stage, she has been a 2015 Finalist for the
Individual World Poetry Slam, a 2016 Finalist for the Texas Grand
Slam, and has served as a Final Stage Sacrificial Poet for the
2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam. Off stage, she has had the
honor of serving as a Juried Poet for the 2012 Houston Poetry
Fest. Her work can be found in Wicked Banshee Press' Survival
Issue, Alight's Collection of Poetry, and in the 2012 & 2017
Houston Poetry Fest Anthology.