HONOLULU Book Awards Author of the Year
Bytrevor
A new indie film that takes place on Hawaiʻi Island’s east side has been selected to participate in this year’s Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. “Chaperone” was written and directed by Hawaiʻi Island resident Zoë Eisenberg. The film, shot in Hilo, is about 29-year-old Misha, a woman without much ambition. She starts a relationship with high school senior Jake, who thinks Misha is his age, which results in some reckless behavior.
The first thing I ever say to her is: I think it is an orgy.
Zoë Eisenberg is winning praise for two works released early this year. In her debut novel, Significant Others, Hawai‘i Island writer Zoë Eisenberg explores the complexities of female friendship and how it shifts over time and circumstances. The book, published in early February by HarperCollins, has generated early buzz, with Kirkus Reviews describing it as an “accomplished first novel [that] artfully limns romantic crosscurrents in a thoroughly contemporary setting.” A month earlier, the 35-year-old made her solo directorial and screenwriting debut with the release of Chaperone, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Breakouts Feature at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival, known for launching breakthrough projects. The film tells the story of an unambitious 29-year-old connected to an 18-year-old who mistakes her for a high school student. Chaperone was shot in Hilo and features a predominantly Asian American and Pacific Islander cast.
For years, Zoë Eisenberg has supported independent filmmaking in her East Hawaiʻi home. Now, a book and feature film debut brings her creative work into the spotlight.
The hot magma chamber of creativity bubbling up on the slopes of Mauna Kea has given us many rich and enchanting voices.
Recent novels from Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes and Kaui Strong Washburn arrived on a solid foundation laid by Juliet Kono, Kiana Davenport and Mark Panek. Now Zoë Eisenberg enters the mix with a significant debut novel, Significant Others.
The Author of “Significant Others” and “The Other Significant Others” in Conversation. Novelist Zoë Eisenberg and journalist-turned-author Rhaina Cohen have something in common: they both published books about extraordinarily intimate friendships. Their debut books published in February of this year with strikingly similar titles—Significant Others (Eisenberg) and The Other Significant Others (Cohen). They talk about their books as “literary fraternal twins.”