For someone whose first words were purportedly "Donald Duck", Dylan Horrocks has done very well in directing his keen interest into a career.
A cartoonist and graphic novel author, he shot to fame with the release of his book Hicksville in 1998, about a small town in New Zealand where the entire populace is obsessed with comics.
That led to work in the big corporate machine of DC Comics, for which he was a writer and ultimately a retreat from that world and a journey through depression to find inspiration again.
He's since published both fiction and non-fiction books, cartoon strips and comic book series Pickle and Atlas.
Dylan Horrocks has also just been made an Arts Foundation Laureate.
