"Riverbend", the 26-year-old author of Baghdad Burning, a first person account of life in occupied Iraq, has been shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize.

Baghdad Burning is the first blog ever to be in the running for a major literary book award. (The small literary publisher Marion Boyars published Baghdad Burning in book form.) Riverbend has already been honored as a journalist. Her blog writing took third place in the Lettre Ulysses prize for Reportage.

Baghdad Burning (Feminist Press)
Baghdad Burning (Marion Boyers)