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.