Ann Dávila Cardinal is a novelist, renowned for her YA supernatural thriller novels. She was born into a family of writers, which includes poets Virgilio and José Antonio Dávila, as well as her cousin, fiction author Tere Dávila. Cardinal's affinity for writing was nurtured by her family's rich literary background, leading her to pursue higher education in the field. She earned her B.A. in Latino Studies from Norwich University, her M.A. in sociology from UI&U, and her MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA). Cardinal has also played a significant role in launching VCFA's winter Writing residency in Puerto Rico and currently serves as the institution's Director of Recruitment.
Cardinal's literary career is marked by a series of successes, including the publication of her first solo novel, a young adult horror novel titled Five Midnights, by Tor Teen in June 2019. The novel went on to win the 2020 International Latino Book Award in the category of Best Young Adult Fantasy & Adventure, an AudioFile’s Earphones Award for the audiobook, and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. The story continues in Category Five, also from Tor Teen, which was released in June 2020 and is a 2021 nominee for the same International Latino Book Award category. Cardinal's latest young adult horror novel, Breakup From Hell, was released by HarperCollins on January 3, 2023. Her first adult novel, the Puerto Rican magical realist mystery The Storyteller’s Death, was released from Sourcebooks Landmark on October 4, 2022, and her second adult novel, We Need No Wings, is scheduled for release in October 2024. Cardinal's stories have been featured in numerous anthologies, including Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology, Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic, and the Latine young adult collection Our Shadows Have Claws. She currently resides in Vermont with her husband.