Nundah local Anton Clifford-Motopi has been shortlisted for the 2025 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year for his debut novel, To and Fro.
The middle-grade book, which explores themes of identity and family, follows 12-year-old Sam, whose journey is inspired by Anton’s own experiences of being Black with light skin.
Growing up in a large adoptive family, Anton always knew he had a Black father and a white mother. However, it wasn’t until later in life, when he had three children of his own (he now has four), that he connected with his birth parents.
“The idea for the story came to me when I was visiting my family in South Africa and Lesotho,” he said. “During the visit, one of my daughters remarked, ‘I wish my outsides matched my insides.’ Over the next few years, I wrote the original manuscript in between working full-time and raising children. The manuscript underwent a major revision before it was accepted for publication by Allen & Unwin.”
A challenge for Anton while writing the story was maintaining the humour while exploring different forms of racism and without trivialising the experiences of people who live with racism.
“To overcome this, I included strong secondary characters who use wit and intellect to call out racism and challenge its underlying assumptions,” he said.
Recognition, Representation, and the Road Ahead
To and Fro also draws from Anton’s experiences of growing up and living in the Brisbane community, especially interactions and conversations he has had around race and identity.
“I set the story in The Gap because I wanted Sam to be living and going to school in a suburb that has a predominantly white population and is not particularly culturally diverse,” he said. “The lack of cultural diversity in Sam’s school and neighbourhood has a major influence on his perception of himself as a ‘weird looking white kid with an afro’.”
He said being shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year (Young Readers category) was recognition that there is a place for the type of stories he wants to write in Australian children’s literature.
“There are many incredibly talented and hardworking authors writing in the OzKidLit space, so it is both an honour and a privilege to be shortlisted,” he said.
He added that he hoped Sam’s story would encourage young readers to engage in open and thoughtful discussions about self-identity, self-image, race and ethnicity.
The winners of the CBCA Book of the Year Award will be announced in August. For more information about the award, visit cbca.org.au/awards
To learn more about Anton Clifford-Motopi, go to antoncliffordmotopi.com
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