Bram Presser has been named the winner of the 2018 Voss Literary Prize for his debut novel, The Book of Dirt.

The Book of Dirt is a spellbinding novelisation of one family’s tale of Holocaust survival, and a heart-warming story about a grandson’s devotion to the power of storytelling and his family’s legacy.

In his review, St Kilda bookseller Dave Little writes: ‘Works such as this give us the opportunity to grapple with complex questions of forgotten history, research and belonging. It is difficult to convey the breadth and nuance of this extraordinary work. It is a book about how history is made – and about who is allowed the privilege to remake it. There are echoes here of Sebald’s biting honesty and Chabon’s long and rewarding vignettes. An absolute pleasure to read.’

Launched in 2014, the Voss Literary Prize is awarded to the best novel published in Australia in the previous year, and is dedicated to the memory of historian Vivian Robert Le Vaux Voss. As the winner, Presser will receive $5000.

Presser was joined on the shortlist by authors Sofie Laguna and Eva Hornung, as well as three other debut novelists: Felicity Castagna, Catherine McKinnon and Pip Smith. Find the full shortlist here.