“The Last Free Dog” – a sign of the return of the graphic novel

by Enis Bytyqi, Koha | March 15 2024

In the place where the littered landscapes ignited the idea with which she debuted in the graphic novel, Sarah Bergquist-Kosumi is back to promote what was concretized in “The Last Free Dog”. Tok and the master of strup, Shpend Kada, have revealed the story behind the novel and not only that. It has been announced that some steps have been taken to translate it into Albanian, while the idea for the next work is on the horizon. Both believe in the power of the graphic novel, their work is a sign of its return to the Kosovo market.

Not only in Kosovo, but also in the world, comics are often considered a genre that belongs to the past. There are few readers, but “The Last Free Dog” is in the camp of those who believe and prove otherwise. It goes against the trends, it looks for it, it finds the reader with a current topic in Kosovo: stray dogs. The genesis of this graphic novel is coincidental, cartography from California. Sarah Bergquist-Kosumi would come to Kosovo to meet her husband’s relatives, where in the landscape with garbage everywhere, the idea for the story with the Illyrian Delta, Lyri, would flourish, and through his story, she would emphasize the problem of stray dogs and of the environment. For illustrations he would find a master like Shpend Kada, the book was published in English and the rest is history.

On Thursday, Sarah Bergquist-Kosumi returned to Kosovo, together with Shpend Kada, they inaugurated “The Last Free Dog” in the “Dukagjini” bookstore in an almost informal meeting, where they revealed the story behind the graphic novel, but not only. It has been announced that some steps have been taken to translate it into Albanian, while the idea for the next work is on the horizon. Characters: bears.

Sarah Bergquist-Kosumi, who completed her basic studies in human geography at California State University-Chico, meanwhile at the “NYU Center for Urban Science + Progress”, received the title of Master of Applied Urban Sciences and Informatics. “The Last Free Dog” started as a backlash for environmental issues.

“I started thinking about how this problem could be solved in Kosovo, and so after extensive research I came to the conclusion that educating the new generations on such problems is a good lever to fix this issue”, he said. she said, adding that providing such a narrative through the puppy’s own perspective in a graphic novel has been the best and most impactful way to advocate for this issue. The interest in presenting a solution for various social problems and the aim to show that there are different paths in the landscape and life of homeless dogs in the Balkans were the premises on which the author acted in the process of creating the book. She sees graphic novels as a tool that includes the practice of learning through visual materials.

“The Last Dog…” breathes colorfully in Kosovo, touching on the identifying landscapes of the country, and for the foreign reader it is also a kind of guide.

The collaboration with Shpend Kada had started by chance from the contact on social networks, from which the first talks had started.

For Kada, this invitation was welcomed by the fact that the very topic rarely addressed by the artistic spectrum had intrigued him.

“Initially, I liked the idea, the fact that it was happening here. We residents of this country do not deal with these problems, environmental pollution and stray dogs. It has been a pleasure and a good experience, a good experience to think more about these problems, especially about this problem of stray dogs, which I have never bothered before. But now I am much more interested in this problem, because Prishtina and Peja are full of stray dogs, which suffer for food and still continue to be a problem”, said Kada, adding that the process of drawing the illustrations was therapeutic and rare, as he had never had the opportunity to draw so many dogs for a single project.

Through a long correspondence through the Internet, they had collaborated in the realization of the characters of the book, to continue with meetings. Details from the book’s working process were also revealed in the promotion. The duo shares with the audience some of the first drafts, as an overview of the long working process.