Willy Palomo: Mercury in Reggaeton

Willy Palomo will perform poems and songs from his new project MERCURY IN REGGAETÓN alongside members of Plumas Colectiva.

This event is free to attend. The venue is wheelchair accessible, and masks are required and provided. ASL interpretation can be provided with 2 weeks advance notice. Please reach out with any accessibility needs.

About MERCURY IN REGGAETÓN

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.

About the Author

Willy Palomo (he/they/she) is the author of Mercury in Reggaetón, winner of the Light Scatter Prize, and Wake the Others (Editorial Kalina/Glass Spider Publishing, 2023), a winner of a Foreword Prize in Poetry and an International Latino Book Award honorable mention in Bilingual Poetry. In November 2024, his Spanish-to-English translation of Tres Tercas Trincheras by Marielos Olivo was published in Europe by FormArti. A veteran of the Salt Lake City poetry slam scene, his fiction, essays, poetry, translations, and songs can be found across print and web pages, including the Best New Poets 2018, Latino Rebels, The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States, and more. He has performed at or keynoted in 160+ public engagements since 2011, including the SUU Pride Film Festival, el Festival Internacional de Poesia Amada Libertad in El Salvador, the World Poetry Slam in Cuidad Juárez, and many more. He has taught classes on literature, rap, and creative writing in universities, juvenile detention centers, high schools, and community centers. He is the son of two refugees from El Salvador.

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