Mercury in reggaetón

winner of the light scatter prize, 2025

Selected by Yesenia Montilla

Flanked by catastrophic headlines and somehow worse breakups, Mercury in Reggaetón indulges in sobs and perreo before facing impending doom and apocalypse. A marriage between hip-hop and the line break, between the ghazal and dembow, Palomo recounts love in a time of dystopia and resistance in a time of heartbreak.

In her citation, Montilla observes that "This poet makes of its speaker a revolution with poems like: 'Desktop Graffiti,' 'Pa’ Mis Brujas' and 'For Those Who Have Sexuality With The Wind, The Flowers, The Garden!'  It coaxes the spells of Haryette Mullen, Ada Limón and Walter Mercado, becoming profoundly punk and counterculture while invoking its own sense of pop."

Available May 2026.