Kristine Ainsworth Swank

Kris Swank is a Preceptor at Signum University, and Library Director of Pima Community College’s Northwest Campus in Tucson, Arizona. She also teaches in the honors and business programs at Pima and Northern Arizona University. She holds a BA, summa cum laude, in Humanities and English from Dana College, a Master of Library Science from the University of Arizona, and an MBA in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Most recently, she completed the MA in Literature and Languages program at Signum University. Her essays have appeared in Tolkien Studies and Mythlore journals, the edited collections Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones (Cambria 2015) and Harry Potter for Nerds II (Unlocking Press 2015), as well as forthcoming collections on Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, and monster studies. She also presents at fantasy literature and medieval studies conferences. Her creative writing has appeared in Silver Leaves and Cababi magazines, and the music CD, Radio Rivendell Vol. II: The Book of War (Waerloga 2008). She has also written for Library Journal, American Libraries, and other professional library publications. She was voted the Barton Kyle Yount Award winner at Thunderbird in 1995, and the Outstanding Honors Faculty at Pima in 2014.