Anton Clifford-Motopi
Anton’s passion is writing funny and thought-provoking stories for children that explore themes of self-identity, belonging, family relationships and friendship. His stories draw from his experiences of being black with light-skin, growing up in an adoptive family with nine siblings, and raising four children. When he is not writing, Anton works as a researcher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Anton loves presenting at school and festivals and is available for author presentations and writing workshops for students in primary and lower secondary school. Anton’s sessions encourage students to tell stories with heart and humour in a voice and style that is their own. Anton can tailor existing sessions and develop new ones to meet students’ needs and interests.
BOOKS
TO and FRO, follows the identity journey of Sam, a 12-year-old boy who thinks he’s a weird-looking white kid with an afro. Sam lives with his white mum (annoying but not smelly) and brown dog Trevor (smelly but not annoying). He’s never met his father. He just knows that his father is black. But a surprise visit has Sam questioning who he really is. Is he a white kid with a black dad? Or a black kid with white skin? Or half-black and half-white?
TO and FRO was shortlisted for the CBA Book of the Year Awards and Reading Children’s Prize.
STUCK in the MIDDLE, is about what it’s like to be the middle child of a big, raucous and loving family. Ten-year-old Leon is having a bad time – his best friend Jacob has moved to Alaska, he’s not allowed to look after Jacob’s cat, he has to be a buddy to the weird new kid and no one in his family listens to him. The only place he feels calm is under his bed, listening to cat-themed songs. When Leon encourages his parents to help out the new kid, his problems get worse. Everyone in Leon’s family seems to like Victor better than him. He tries to tell them how he’s feeling, but how can a quiet person like Leon make himself heard in such a loud family?
STUCK in THE MIDDLE was published in August 2026.
General Author Talk
(45 – 60 minutes, prep – Grade 6)
In this session, Anton uses funny stories and archival photos from his childhood to talk about how being adopted and growing up with nine siblings has influenced the stories he writes. Anton talks about how to write from lived experience, use humour in storytelling, and create characters from family members (without them recognising themselves in your story). The session includes games, quizzes, jokes and question time.
Workshops
Writing about Identity
(45 minutes to 1 hour, Grades 3 – 7)
Who am I? Where do I come from? These are two big questions that Sam in TO and FRO tries to answer on his journey of developing a black identity. Drawing on the themes in TO and FRO, students will explore who they are and where they come from and learn how to write about their identity in a voice and style that is authentically their own.
Using humour in writing
(45 minutes to 1 hour, Grades 2 – 7)
In this session, Anton shares advice for writing funny stories, focusing on using different types of humour (e.g. slapstick, situational, gross), using humour to write about serious topics, and creating funny words for everyday things. Students get to write sentences and scenes using different types of humour and make up funny words for things.
Writing about Family
(45 minutes to 1 hour, Grades 2 - 7)
In this session, Anton gives students creative prompts for writing a story about a family (e.g. a family tree of stories, a family time capsule of traditions, a family heirloom passed down through generations). Students choose a prompt and use it to write a story about a family. Anton shares tips for writing family dynamics to bring the story to life, focusing on character development, tension and conflict and real-life experiences.
Testimonials
Stuck in the middle
To and Fro
Queensland
Speaker type
- Author
Audience
- Prep - Year 2
- Year 3-6