Three Guardian journalists - Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Aditya Chakrabortty and Jonathan Freedland - are on the shortlist for the Orwell prize for political writing, as reported here.

The other four shortlisted journalists are James Astill of The Economist, AA Gill (Sunday Times), Gideon Rachman (Financial Times), and Mary Riddell (Daily Telegraph).

Three journalists also feature in the six-strong shortlist of writers for the books prize. They are Daily Telegraph columnist (and its former editor) Charles Moore for his authorised biography of Margaret Thatcher; David Goodhart, the former editor of Prospect, for The British dream, about the nation's changed demographics; and James Fergusson, the former Independent staffer, for The world's most dangerous place, about Somalia.

The other three authors are Alan Johnson for This boy; Gaiutra Bahadur for Coolie woman and Frank Dikötter for The tragedy of liberation.

The two £3,000 prizes will be announced at a party on 21 May. The judges for the journalism prize are Paul Anderson, Robin Lustig and Michael Parks, while the books prize judges are Sue MacGregor, Robert McCrum and Trevor Phillips.

Jean Seaton, the director of the Orwell prize, said the journalism shortlist "features journalism that hums with vivid language and clear thought" and that the judges "were heartened by the adventurous and brave reporting put forward this year."

Source: Orwell Prize