“[W]ords are speaking emotion and humanity more than they are a language.” —Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton
On Saturday, April 4, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton will teach “Playing with Perspective.” In this generative class, students will learn how to step outside trauma and shift perspectives in their writing, unlocking new thoughts, details, and characters.
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) (translated into German, Berichtenswert, Elif Verlag, 2020), Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co., 2023), which won Best Nonfiction Book through the Texas Institute of Letters (2024). Mouton contributed writings for Glamour, Texas Monthly, and ESPN’s Andscape. This 3-time TedX presenter and international performer has been the keynote speaker for the Texas Library Association and the Texas Association for Literacy and Education, among others performing for crowds upwards of 37,000 people—including the Autumn Festival in Leipzig as an ambassador for the City of Houston. A former Resident Artist with American Lyric Theater, Rice University, and the Houston Museum of African American Culture, her most recent works include a children’s book (Hush Hush Hurricane, Kokila) and an opera at The Kennedy Center.
Here’s what Deborah had to share with us:
Who are your earliest influences? What people and books made you a writer?
My parents filled our home with books. Early on I grabbed on to Nikki Giovanni (anything with her name on it), Sonia Sanchez (Shake Loose My Skin) and C. S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia). Their work enchanted me and made me feel like I had a story to tell.
What writing challenges have you faced? What have these challenges taught you about your process?
Being someone who has changed genres many times, I am always up against the challenge of mastering what the craft has done so I can reimagine what is possible for it to do that no one else considered in the way I have. But convincing people that breaking the rules they have come to love and find safety in is not always an easy path.
From your perspective, what’s the most rewarding part about being a writer?
I love when someone hears or reads my words and feels seen. Especially when the person is nothing like me. Something about that says that the words are speaking emotion and humanity more than they are a language.
Who do you write for?
I write for little Black girls who were never told their stories were important enough to say aloud or put on paper. I write for poor kids who had to learn to bet on the nothing in their pockets. I write for writers who don’t have all the degrees but learn from absorbing the world and other fantastic writers’ work. I write for all the people who have been told to be quiet but hold revolution in their tongues. And on the days I can’t do any of that, I write for the part of me that can’t navigate this world without first wrestling it on the page to see if it is really stronger than me.
What do you hope writers will learn from your course?
I want writers to learn that various perspectives offer new opportunities to expand their writing and tap into new truths.
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Thanks, Deborah!
Click here to learn more about Deborah’s upcoming class.
