ALUMNX NEWS: Ann Dávila Cardinal (W ‘07) Bad Bunny Biography & new Adult Novel
VCFA MFA in Writing alumnx and former VCFA Director of Recruitment Ann Dávila Cardinal (W ‘07) recently announced the publication of two exciting projects in 2024: the middle grade biography Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny (Macmillan 2024) and the adult novel We Need No Wings (Sourcebooks 2024).
As a part of Claudia Romo Edelman’s Hispanic Star series, Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny details the work and life of Puerto Rican musical artist and producer Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, professionally known as Bad Bunny, for middle grade audiences. Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny will be Cardinal’s debut work in the middle grade space.
Cardinal’s second release of 2024 will be We Need No Wings. This adult novel follows Tere Sanchez, a professor, wife, and mother. When her husband suddenly dies, Tere takes a leave from her job at the university, hoping to move on from the grief of losing her love. Instead, Tere spends a year stuck in her all-consuming grief. Stuck, that is, until the day she levitates.
Cardinal had this to say about her 2024 projects:
“Working on Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny was very exciting for me as I have been a fan of the Latin trap artist since his first single was released. However, to write a biography of someone so young and very private was challenging, and it was also a blast. It’s such an honor to be part of activist and author Claudia Romo Edelman’s Hispanic Star series, whose co-authors include VCFA faculty member Will Alexander’s profile of Celia Cruz. And it’s the first thing I’ve written that’s been translated into Spanish by my friend and fellow Puerto Rican author Amparo Ortiz.
As a “woman of a certain age” I don’t see enough stories that represent us as the vibrant, free creatures we truly are. I am no one’s coastal grandma! So, We Need No Wings features a badass 60-year-old protagonist, who is struggling with her grief over the loss of her husband until she begins to levitate. In an attempt to stop the experiences she makes a desperate pilgrimage to Spain to explore her shared roots with Saint Teresa of Ávila. I’m very proud of this novel, and I drew on so much of what I learned at VCFA’s MFA in Writing program to write it.”
Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny releases September 3, 2024 and We Need No Wings releases September 10, 2024. Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny can be preordered here, and We Need No Wings can be preordered here. Plus, keep up-to-date with Cardinal’s work at anndavilacardinal.com.