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Poetry

Stolen Neon

A slimbook of twenty eight love poems by Zoe Marie Bel. This special edition also features short love stories 'Black Wax' (shortlisted for the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize) and 'Somonauk, Illinois', as well as an essay about the value of difficult experiences.

  • Form: Poetry (plus two short stories and an essay)
  • Specification: Paperback, 116 pages
  • Published: February 1st 2026
  • Purchase from: Wherever books are sold; online from Scatterpunk Press.
  • ISBN: 978-1-9193481-0-0
  • RRP: US $9.99 · GB £8.99 · EUR €9.99 · AU $14.95

*Bookstore list will continually grow throughout 2026

The Blurb

Twenty eight poems of love, desire, and reverie, a vibrant mixtape for the full and adventurous heart.

Zoe Marie Bel has wagged a flashlight around the human condition and concluded that love is something very awesome, even if it isn't always easy to measure, predict, or capture alive. This slimbook of poetry is a cardiograph in words, reflecting what love (and friendship) can do to our pulse rate, our electricity bill, and our tolerance for shared wet hoagies in the winter rain.

This special edition of 'Stolen Neon' also features two love stories (including 'Black Wax', shortlisted for the Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize), as well as a Thanksgiving essay about the endurance and faith brought out in us by those people (and places) we love.

  • "All great stories are a marvel to behold, but a finely balanced story that is also a joyful one is a rare feat. 'Black Wax' tells the tale of a fledgling record company inspired to promote unstereotypical Black American music. This engaging set-up provides the vehicle for a superbly incisive, witty, and uplifting love story. 'Black Wax' is an example of the short story form at its entertaining and artisanal best."
  • – Australian Book Review on short story 'Black Wax'
  • "Bel is a lovely stylist."
  • – Kirkus Reviews on novella 'Valérie'

Download a sample of 'Stolen Neon: Poems and Two Love Stories'

PDF (2.1 MB), download opens in new window

A Few Words With The Author, Zoe Marie Bel

Above: Zoe Marie Bel (right) with her mother Maggie, to whom 'Stolen Neon' is dedicated.

  • 'Fess up. Have you ever stolen neon?
  • It wasn't me, it was the one-armed man. Also, think about it. You can't steal neon without wrenching it from its power source. So now it's a big clump of weird twisted glass that folks will have to stare at for a year before they even realize it says NASTY GIRLS or 24 HOURS BAIL BONDS or PARK IN BASEMENT. And if the cops are quick to the scene, what are you going to say - you're just holding it for a friend? I'm not seeing the beginnings of a brilliant criminal career.
  • Why did you call your book 'Stolen Neon' then?
  • Just as with my first Scatterpunk slimbook 'Foothills', the book is titled after one of the poems inside. This particular title felt right overall because light is very much the organizing idea of the collection. A number of the poems, and one of the short stories, are explicitly about light. And if you want to play a grueling drinking game, take a shot every time you encounter a reference to stars or the sun. I wanted the collection title to capture that framework of light.
  • A neon sign is made to order for you. It says what?
  • 'Sex sells and love borrows'. The sad truths of life. Or the formula for conversion of Fahrenheit to Celsius, so that I can understand when Australians bitch about the weather.
  • Los Angeles also seems to come up quite a lot in the book. Fair?
  • Very. That city has been a major creative influence on me ever since I first inhaled Raymond Chandler as a young grasshopper. I designed the cover art for 'Stolen Neon', and that's a fat L.A. sun I put in the backdrop to acknowledge the city's hold on me. (I'd also just watched William Friedkin's classic neo-noir movie 'To Live And Die In L.A.', which is likely why an '80s vibe is prominent in the artwork.) I should note that Los Angeles shares space with another great American city in this book - and that's Chicago. Head to the two short stories and you'll see they are both set in, or around, the Windy City. That happened by coincidence, but, once I'd noticed it, I wanted it no other way.
  • Apart from light and L.A. (and Chicago), what else is holding the disparate pieces together?
  • Theme-wise, 'Stolen Neon' is big on faith. I don't mean in the religious sense necessarily, although that might be what faith is to some readers, and I'm all for it. My own contemplations of faith, though, run secular. Many of the pieces in 'Stolen Neon' concern themselves with the simultaneous agitation and empowerment of leaps of faith in a relationship or place. It's also big on marriage, which some might say is a corollary of the theme of faith.
  • Are these pieces autobiographical?
  • Nah. Every writer inevitably repurposes their own experiences in their work, but some blend it to the point of liquid unrecognizability, and I'm one of those.
  • No autobiographical lumps, okay.
  • It's not fair to folks to put my recognizable experiences with them into my writing. I feel strongly that's an abuse of power. So if you've loved me, or I've loved you, you're in the book only in the vital but ambient sense of being the emotional soundtrack to which I wrote these pieces. You are not directly there.
  • With all that is going down in the world today, isn't poetry kinda irrelevant? I mean – excuse my diction ma'am but – who gives a crap?
  • Ha, I'm not worried about poetry at all. If anything, poetry's value is only appreciating, as the world becomes more and more swampy with AI slop and nihilistic outbursts like "6-7" (kiddos? wtf). Think about junk food - it didn't kill high cuisine. It only cluttered the landscape against which high cuisine stands out. We're never going to stop striving for and leaning toward the most beautiful (and therefore satisfying) of something, whether that's goat cheese soufflé or lines in a book. It's as infinitely relevant as an existential need.

About The Author

Zoe Marie Bel is a writer of fiction and poetry, whose work has appeared in 'The New York Times', 'The Los Angeles Review', 'Australian Book Review', 'Short Édition', and more. She was educated in English Literature at Oxford University, and in real talk at various bus stops and laundromats around the world, particularly those of Los Angeles. 'Stolen Neon' is her second slimbook of poetry, following 'Foothills' (2024). Follow news and read online pieces at zoemariebel.com.

Find A Bookstore

*Check back regularly: list frequently updated

'Stolen Neon: Poems and Two Love Stories' by Zoe Marie Bel is available for pre-order and purchase wherever books are sold, around the globe. Below we list featured bookstores for your convenience, and to thank these stores for their support. But know that you can visit any bookstore and order in the book if it is not already stocked there. Simply quote the ISBN: 978-1-9193481-0-0.

California
— Arcata
  • Northtown Books
  • » 957 H Street, Arcata, CA 95521 · Store destroyed by fire on January 2, 2026 - online orders only · (707) 822-2834
  • » Order online for home delivery
— Berkeley
— Los Angeles
— San Francisco
Your state not listed?

No worries – we are continually adding locations. Check back soon.

List will populate throughout February 2026

We're addding to our list of recommended bookstores in Canada throughout February 2026.
In the meantime, you can order 'Stolen Neon' at any bookstore by quoting ISBN 978-1-9193481-0-0.
The book is also available on Amazon.

List will populate throughout February 2026

We're addding to our list of recommended bookstores in Europe throughout February 2026.
In the meantime, you can order 'Stolen Neon' at any bookstore by quoting ISBN 978-1-9193481-0-0.
The book is also available on Amazon.

List will populate throughout February 2026

We're addding to our list of recommended bookstores in Australasia throughout February 2026.
In the meantime, you can order 'Stolen Neon' at any bookstore by quoting ISBN 978-1-9193481-0-0.
The book is also available on Amazon.

List will populate throughout February 2026

We're addding to our list of recommended bookstores in Africa throughout February 2026.
In the meantime, you can order 'Stolen Neon' at any bookstore by quoting ISBN 978-1-9193481-0-0.
The book is also available on Amazon.

Find A Library

*Check back regularly: list frequently updated

We are slowly rolling out 'Stolen Neon: Poems and Two Love Stories' to libraries around the world. In the meantime, you can ask at your local library to have the collection added to its shelves. Simply quote the ISBN: 978-1-9193481-0-0.

List will populate in February 2026

We'll add locations when the book publishes on February 1st 2026. Check back soon.

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