Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is an award-winning literary artist, director, performer, and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, TX. She authored Newsworthy (Bloomsday Literary, 2019) and Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co., 2023), which won the Carr P. Collins award for Best Nonfiction through the Texas Institute of Letters (2024). Mouton has contributed to Glamour, Texas Monthly, and ESPN's Andscape. A former Resident Artist with The Kennedy Center, Rice University, and the Houston Museum of African American Culture, her recent upcoming works include a children's book (Hush Hush Hurricane, Kokila) and an multi-site immersive art installation, The Call Me Mother Experience, dedicated amplifying the Black Maternal Health issue.