Dr Richard Harris talks bravery for kids at Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival
From an anxious kid to an international hero, Dr Harry’s new children’s book has found its place among the literary legends descending on Mackay this week.
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From an anxious kid to an international hero, the cave diver who helped rescue 13 boys and their soccer coach in Thailand is inspiring kids to be brave through literature.
Dr Richard “Harry” Harris wrote children’s book Alfie the Brave, a “true story” about his own Staffordshire Bull Terrier who has gone through life a “nervous hound”.
It may seem worlds away from Against All Odds, his and Craig Challen’s account of the Tham Luang rescue in 2018, but they both draw on Dr Harry’s experiences with bravery.
“The story is about (Alfie) incrementally having these experiences which he’s finding very frightening but at the end he finally does something brave and finds his courage,” he said ahead of his speech at the Whitsunday Voices Flor-Hanly Literary Dinner on Friday.
“The metaphor is pretty obvious for kids that life is a bit of a struggle and we can’t all be brave but there’s something out there for all of us.
“Sometimes we’re just like Alfie the dog who’s just a bit hopeless at a lot of stuff in life, but I think there’s a place for all of us in life and ... (we’ve) just got to find that special opportunity that will be out there for you.
“There’s a bit of me in the book. I was a bit of a nervous kid and I was very fortunate to find this thing that I loved in the ocean and in scuba diving.
“Through that I was able to build this life of adventure and have a fantastic time.
“And ultimately being involved in this rescue in Thailand ... and that has been a life-changing event.
“I hope the book can encourage kids to find their courage as well.”
Dr Harry, an anaesthetist who became Australian of the Year in 2019 after the Thailand rescue, said his life was unrecognisable since he got the call to help in the cave rescue.
But he still loved telling his story.
“Because the story is amazing,” he said.
“There’s so much in terms of meaningful learning from it, the way the global community came together.
“You see people unite and work towards that goal shoulder to shoulder.
“There were a dozen countries and literally thousands of people working together with this goal in mind.”
Dr Harry said writing a children’s book leant on his experience in medicine.
“I’ve spent my professional life telling stories to kids as an anaesthetist,” he said.
“It’s a really good way to help them relax as they’re going to sleep and obviously the parents are very anxious, understandably, in the operating theatre, so I think I’ve developed that storytelling art.”
Yet Dr Harry soon found, as many of the festival’s authors would agree, that “actually children’s picture books are quite nuanced and actually quite hard to write well”.
The skill that goes into kids and young adult books was on full display with authors and performers such as John Marsden, Melina Marchetta, and many more.
Festival manager Tracey Gurdler said the 2022 Whitsunday Voices Festival had sold a thousand more tickets than an average year amid an “overwhelming response” from the community.
“I think it’s one of the biggest events in Mackay’s calendar (with) the festival and then the literary dinner,” she said.
“There’s a great buzz around the festival.”
Whitsunday Anglican School year 10 student Evelyn Sunner said she “really loved” seeing slam poet Anisa Nandaula, while friend Eden Bagley said she enjoyed seeing marine archaeologist Maddy McAllister.
“It’s really cool to see so, so many schools coming to our school, as far as Dysart or Winchester, and we can all experience it together,” she said.
The festival is a big event for rural and distance education students who make the trip to Mackay.
Tayla Scott, a year 6 student with the Charters Towers School of Distance Education, said the four hours of travel was worth it for the “great experience”.
She and friend Tori Sullivan both said they most enjoyed seeing performers like children’s entertainer Lucas Proudfoot and theatre company Shake & Stir.
Tayla and Tori were among 481 children brought to Whitsunday Voices with the help of the Winchester Foundation.
Foundation director John Formosa said that in the nine years the festival had been running, since 2013, the program had brought more than 3500 kids to get inspired by books.
“It gives the kids from the little country schools – particularly (those) with less than 10 students – an opportunity to see great authors, presenters, illustrators, but it also gets them to a bigger school environment with all the other kids running around,” he said.
“I think we should all be very grateful to Whitsunday Anglican School for making such a great festival available to all students.”
Yet an operation like the Youth Literature Festival relies on volunteers to run, including Whitsunday Anglican School mum and festival usher Karlien Nothard.
Ms Nothard said her children in Year 3 and Year 1 were at an age where “getting them to read is hard, so (the Festival’s) absolutely amazing”.
“I’ve been told the vibe is amazing and people love it, and I’ve just been loving it,” she said.
John Marsden, author of Tomorrow, When the War Began, hosted an educator’s forum on Thursday evening.
And other events have been dotted throughout the week but Dr Harry’s speech at the final event on Friday night was the standout.
There was a standing ovation at the MECC when he finished delivering life lessons in courage and bravery.
Gripping. Heart wrenching. Incredible. They were the words from members of the audience.
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