Ann Hagman Cardinal is a freelance writer and columnist as well as the Director of Alumni Affairs for Vermont College of Fine Arts. In her past she has worked as an ice cream scooper, bookseller, computer salesperson, publicist for the New York City Ballet (just hum a few bars of the Nutcracker and watch her twitch), and her favorite job, a clerk at Woolworth’s on 5th avenue and 8th Street in NYC. Her goal, once she sells her next book, is to work at Costco.

Ann spent years as an undergraduate adult student at Columbia University, taking classes at night, eating a yogurt for dinner as she ran down the street, only to sit next to a 22 year old who didn’t want to be there. She finally earned her B.A. in Latino Studies from Norwich University in 2000 in the Adult Degree Program (where she caught the writing bug—that’s right, you can blame them), and went on to earn an M.A. in sociology and creative writing from Vermont College of UI&U. Now she is collecting master’s degrees—she is hoping for a complete set—and to that end just graduated with her MFA in Writing from Vermont College.

Her column, Café Con Lupe, appears in several places including the popular Latino blog La Bloga and she has had pieces appear in numerous national publications, including most recently, AARP Magazine and American Scholar. She also just completed her new novel, The Gift of the Cuentista and the young adult novel La Mangosta: Pirate Hunter.

Ann is an obsessive knitter and in-line skater, and she spends too much of her money on high-heeled shoes (not very practical in Vermont), vintage Etienne Aigner handbags, and unique martini glasses. Ann is married to the ever-patient Doug Cardinal, and they have one son, the not-so-patient-but-terribly-clever Carlos Victor Cardinal.