Jo Coldwell

  • The Wainwright Prize shortlist

    The Wainwright Prize, the UK’s foremost nature and conservation writing awards, today announced their 2026 shortlists.   Jackie Morris dominates this year’s shortlist with three books making the list; TheSummer Puppy created with Cathy Fisher is shortlisted in the Children’s Picture Bookcategory, while Wild Folk: Tales from the Stones written with Tamsin Abbott, and TheBook of Birds written with Robert Macfarlane have both been shortlisted in the IllustrativeBooks category.  Whilst Jackie Morris has the most shortlistings in 2026, former winner RobertMacfarlane holds the record for the most Wainwright Prize nominations by anyauthor since the prize began, with a further two […]

  • Bedtime Stories: Free event

    This is a free event with a FREE Bedtime Storytelling bundle to the first 50 families who register Please email your interest HERE A little more about the grant can be found HERE

  • Have we lost touch with the Natural World

    On July 30th, we have an event with Author Robert Ashton, discussing his two books, Where Are The Fellows Who Cut the Hay and Beneath the Earth His books, about the land, ask if we have lost touch with the natural world and how we can live by the seasons despite the changing climate BOOK EVENT HERE We are sharing a recent radio interview, courtesy of Matthew Young at Colne Radio Books available at the event of by emailing us@redlionbooks.co.uk

  • Tuesday afternoons during the School Holidays

    From 28th July we invite children, with parent / carers to pop in for Tuesday afternoon activities. Writing club at 2pm followed by 2.30pm story time with Anna MORE INFORMATION HERE

  • Red Lion Books receive a grant from Penguin Random House

    Red Lion Books, Colchester  ‘Bedtime with the Red Lion’ will invite parents and pre-school children to discover the joy of books together, by modelling relaxed, playful and exploratory approaches to shared reading. Delivered through free pop-up sessions in community hubs, the project will help parents overcome anxiety about reading aloud by emphasising interaction, storytelling, and connection rather than performance. Parents will be encouraged to follow their child’s lead by pointing to pictures, repeating phrases, asking questions, and enjoying the story in their own way and reframing reading as a creative exchange that strengthens bonds and builds early learning confidence for both parent […]

  • Previous events

    Previous Events At Red Lion Books We have had thousands of events over the years. Book clubs, craft clubs, writing clubs, poetry clubs and author events -including the late and great Terry Pratchett but it’s only in recent years that we have had a digital record. We hosted 96 book clubs last year alone. Here are some of the Author events we’ve hosted from the past year. These events are no longer available to book

  • Saturday Morning Surgery

    Weekly half-hour round up. The Saturday Surgery is open! Check out this week’s new releasesFind out out about industry book awards, winners and shortlistsHave a cuppa with us (bring your own mug)Share your book recsTake our book advice if needed In the basement from 11am We’d love to see you here. If there is any thing in particular you would like us to research before hand please drop us an email  us@redlionbooks.co.uk

  • Staff picks

    Non-Fiction Chosen by Jamie Jamie is our resident witch, yoga teacher and fantasy wizard with a deep love for Terry Pratchett. They read a lot of non-fiction and love giving recommendations, ranging from politics to science to history. They are also the perfect person to speak to if you are starting a pagan/witchcraft journey – always happy to share whereabouts to begin. Weird Fiction Chosen by Louise Louise will happily fuss any dog that comes in the shop! She is the brains behind our Blind Date with a Book and runs The Cocoa Book Club which has collaborated with the Women’s […]

  • Meet the gang

    Meet the gang Jo Fiction Jo loves people as much as she loves books, and bringing the two together is her favourite thing to do. To achieve this she lives on little sleep and BBQ flavoured hula hoops. She prefers make-believe to reality, reads mostly fiction, hosts Appetite Book Club, and can often be seen with her shopping trolley delivering books or teaching yoga. Jamie Non-Fiction Jamie is our resident witch, yoga teacher and fantasy wizard with a deep love for Terry Pratchett. They read a lot of non-fiction and love giving recommendations, ranging from politics to science to history. They […]

  • Terms & Conditions

    If your book is self-published fiction please click here If you have published a book with a strong local interest and would like to see your work on our shelves, here are our terms and conditions and initial guidelines. We have a standard approach to stocking self-published books by local authors which is a ‘sale or return’ arrangement and a normal stocking period of six months. We can take books at any time but they must be returned/collected by the next January or July (whichever is closest) Points to consider If you are not a regular customer of Red Lion Books, […]