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This special event will feature a presentation from Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton on her new memoir “Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood, and Myth” followed by a discussion of the book with Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton and WLT Program Director Sam Babiak.
About the presentation:
In the genre of memoir, it is difficult to differentiate your story from the growing stack. New forms blending mythology and poetry helped Houston’s Poet Laureate Emeritus, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton stand out from the pack in her newest memoir, Black Chameleon. Join us for a conversation on craft, culture, and the path to turning your story into a unique and memorable read.
About the book:
“Exquisite… This is a genre-shifting book.” – Kiese Laymon
“This book kept showing me new shades of freedom.” – Sonya Renee Taylor
“Black Chameleon redefines what a memoir can be.” – Zain E. Asher
In the literary tradition of Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, and Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped, this debut memoir confronts both the challenges and joys of growing up Black and making your own truth.
Growing up as a Black girl in America, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton felt alienated from the stories she learned in class. She yearned for stories she felt connected to—true ones of course—but also fables and mythologies that could help explain both the world and her place in it.
Mouton writes, “The phrases of my mother and grandmother began to seem less colloquial and more tied to stories that had been lost along the way. . . . Mythmaking isn’t a lie. It is our moment to take the privilege of our own creativity to fill in the gaps that colonization has stolen from us. It is us choosing to write the tales that our children pull strength from. It is hijacking history for the ignorance in its closets. This, a truth that must start with the women.”
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Buy our panelists’ books and support indie bookstores! You can find our May Third Thursday booklist here.
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton is an internationally-known, writer, director, performer, critic and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, TX. Her memoir, Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood, and Myth, publishes in March 2023 from Henry Holt & Company. She is also the author of the 2019 poetry collection Newsworthy, which was a finalist for the The Writer's League of Texas Book Award and Honorable Mention in the Summerlee Book Prize. Her poems have garnered her a Pushcart nomination and been translated into multiple languages. She has been a contributing writer for Glamour, Texas Monthly, Muzzle, and ESPN's The Undefeated. Her work ranges from writing stageplays and librettos for operas such as Marian's Song to storytelling through film. She currently resides in Houston, TX.
