Local Author debuts novel @ Griffith Library

Lawrence Del Gigante was born and raised In Griffith and so it's only natural that Griffith City Library is the place where he will present his first novel 'Crisis on Kepler'.

Lawrence Del Gigante had always wanted to be an author but it wasn’t until he interned at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters that he had an idea worth writing about. “I sat down so many times to try and create something but without a good concept it was useless,” Mr delGigante said. “I’d almost given up hope.”

Interning for a press agency, Mr Del Gigante was exposed to the political and diplomatic arenas, where his duties included covering meetings of the Security Council on proposed resolutions to the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

He describes his book, “Crisis on Kepler” as a space opera informed by bleeding edge technology and the geo-political landscape he was exposed to while at the UN.

Growing up in the area is something that Mr Del Gigante believes had a strong influence in his writing. "The natural landscape we have here is quite unique,” he said. “I often drew on it when writing the book."

“My mother is a librarian so that was something that was fairly influential in me becoming a writer. I spent countless hours after school in the Griffith City Library waiting for mum to finish work.

Having studied English and Literature at Sydney University, and also having lived in Cambodia, Norway and Indonesia, Mr delGigante said he still has plenty left to write about and has begun development of a sequel.