About
About
A queer writer, filmmaker and circus producer, Zoë creates stories and spaces in and about her home on Hawai’i island. Her short fiction has been published in Guernica and the Sewanee review, and her debut novel SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, published in February 2024 by HarperCollins/MIRA, is currently being adapted in partnership with Storm City Films (History of Sound, Hedda). Zoë’s work as a filmmaker has been supported by Tribeca Studios and Netflix, and her solo feature length directorial debut CHAPERONE premiered at Slamdance in 2024, where it took home the Grand Jury Award for Breakouts.
Zoë co-founded and served as Executive Director of the Made in Hawai’i Film Festival from 2018 through 2022, and co-founded and presently serves as Creative Director for Aerial Arts Hawai’i, a queer and allied circus performance collective and community training space.
Press
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EXCERPT: PIG ISLAND (short story)
The Sewanee Review | February 15, 2025The first thing I ever say to her is: I think it is an orgy. -
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HONOLULU Book Awards Author of the Year
Honolulu Magazine | May 16, 2025Not many first novelists have the chutzpah and chops to rewrite the rules, but Zoë Eisenberg does just that in her acclaimed novel, which she says “came to me as -
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Zoë Eisenberg on Messy Romances and the Art of Community
Flux Hawaii | April 1, 2025For 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. -
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Hawaiʻi International Film Festival 2024: Zoë Eisenberg on Chaperone
Filmmaker Magazine | November 8, 2024A chance encounter with a teenage Lothario who thought she was still in high school inspired Zoë Eisenberg to begin writing her solo directorial debut, Chaperone, which premiered at the -
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Meet Hawai‘i’s Newest Literary and Film Star, Zoë Eisenberg
Honolulu Magazine | April 1, 2024Zoë 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 -
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Hawaiʻi Island filmmaker debuts solo directorial project ‘Chaperone’
Hawaiʻi Public Radio | October 9, 2024A 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 -
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writer on writer: Aaron Kandell + Zoë Eisenberg
The Hawaiʻi Review of Books | November 21, 2024The 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 -
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Two Authors, One Subject: Zoë Eisenberg and Rhaina Cohen on Writing Intimate Friendships
Literary Hub | July 12, 2024The 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 -
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Sunrise Interview on Hawaii News Now with Zoë, Mitzi Akaha, and Krista Alvarez of Chaperone.
Hawaii News Now | October 13, 2024Zoë Eisenberg, writer and director of ‘Chaperone,’ joins actors Mitzi Akaha and Krista Alvarez on Hawai‘i News Now Sunrise to discuss her directorial debut and its Hawai‘i International Film Festival