Playford's mother's family came to Australia from Lithuania in 1949 as refugees, and his father's family has been involved in South Australian and federal politics for a number of generations. He holds a History degree from Adelaide University and worked as a policy advisor in state and federal government for several years. Since 1992 Playford has been writing full time, and has continued to write occasional fiction and articles on nanotechnology and futurology since his first book, The Prisoner Gains a Blurred Skin (1994), which was the first ever title released by Black Pepper Publishing. He has now changed his name to Avatar Polymorph, and has written a book of ethical cosmology and spiritual love, The Path of Love.
The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy (1998) opines that Playford's "highly experimental" work involves "philosophical play with mental realities," and that it "reveals a fascination with consciousness and its interaction with cosmology."
