Elias Primoff '09

Elias Primoff, a junior majoring in literature, has always been a writer. “I remember writing when I was a little kid,” he says. His penchant is being given full rein at Bard, where his professors in the Writing Program in Fiction and Poetry include authors Edie Meidav (winner of the 2005 Bard Fiction Prize), Luc Sante, and Daniel Mendelsohn. “My classes are taught by people who are experts in their fields, and the classes are so small that I get to know them,” Primoff marvels. “That’s an experience not a lot of people have. I know students in college who say they’ll appreciate their education when they graduate, but I get to do what I love in this environment, this ‘town’ where people make things, and talk about writing and get credit for it.”

Primoff grew up in High Falls, New York, across the Hudson River from Bard. “The Hudson Valley is unusually artistic,” he notes. “In the small community where I grew up, there are painters, playwrights, writers of all sorts. Not everyone gets to grow up around that.” He is concentrating on writing short stories in his Bard workshops, but also is interested in cultural criticism and personal essays. This summer, Primoff will be an intern at Interview magazine (cofounded by Andy Warhol) in New York City, an opportunity he hopes will lead to a job after graduation. His Bard writing helped him land the position.

Outside of class, Primoff plays guitar, composes, sings, and records; he’s played some local gigs. He hosts a music show on Bard’s radio station, WXBC, and spent a semester at University of London’s Goldsmiths College for writing and media studies. Bard has been a nourishing place in which to cultivate his talent, “because of all the chances I was allowed to take once I got here. … Everyone is so excited to be able to create constantly and explore things in different ways.”