Yenny Li, a native of Pinar del Río, Cuba, and a graduate of the Enrique José Varona Higher Pedagogical Institute in Havana, brings a rich background in both poetry and education to Carrollwood Day School, where she joined the Upper School faculty in 2024. Her teaching career spans continents, with experience at an IB school in Kuala Lumpur, and schools in Shanghai, Singapore, and Florida. Ms. Li has a unique, multicultural perspective that aligns seamlessly with our mission to cultivate globally minded students. Her passion for enhancing her teaching by weaving the Spanish language with poetry enriches our educational community and supports our focus on fostering international awareness and cross-cultural understanding in our students.
In 2020, while Ms. Li was teaching in Malaysia, she began writing and compiling her poetry, and published her first book, Rimas de una Musa Ilusa, with an Argentinian publisher. Written in rhyme Jotabé, her book is composed of neoclassical strophic poems. Soon after, Ms. Li wrote and published her second book of poems titled Acusa a Mi Musa, a collection of memories, encounters and missed connections, satires and apologies.
Her latest work, Alas, takes readers on a lyrical journey, blending emotions and reflections through the art of the décima, a ten-verse rhyming structure. Each of Ms. Li’s poems represent a feather, a nod to her time living in Asia. These feathers contribute to the wings of poetry, imagination, and existence.
Alas earned an Honorable Mention in the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Poetry Book Award - One Author (Spanish) at the 2024 International Latino Book Awards (ILBA). The International Latino Book Awards (ILBA) are prestigious annual awards that honor authors, translators, and illustrators for their outstanding contributions to literature in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. The awards are presented by Empowering Latino Futures, co-founded by notable figures such as Edward James Olmos, and involve various organizations dedicated to promoting literacy and cultural representation.
The CDS family is thrilled to welcome Ms. Li to the Upper School faculty, and we are incredibly proud of her literary accomplishments. What started as a method of teaching her students in Asia the Spanish language through rhyme, has evolved into a beautiful testimony of Li’s life’s journey, captured in verse. Her passion for both the Spanish language and poetry will undoubtedly inspire our students for years to come.
We applaud our students and staff for their personal and professional accomplishments. If there if is something you would like to share with the CDS community, email us!