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 a coincidence, the cartographer 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, Lyrin, would flourish. , and through his story would emphasize the problem of stray dogs and 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 where 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 has completed her basic studies in human geography in California, started her debut book “The Last Free Dog” as a counter-reaction to environmentalism, which responds to the current situation in Kosovo.
“I think that this book will be very well received, because it shows a reality that people here live, and I believe that it will be well received, especially by the little ones, and I hope that it will provoke thoughts in people, to help them with the situation of homeless dogs”.
“The Last Dog…” breathes colorfully in Kosovo touching the identifying landscapes of the country such as Prishtina, Peja and Prizren, while for the foreign reader it is also a kind of guide that introduces them to the Kosovar culture. The collaboration with Shpend Kada had started by chance from the contact on social networks, from which the first talks had started.
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 work process were also revealed at the promotion, where the duo shared with attendees some of the first drafts, as an overview of the long work process.
Through this special novel, the author aims to encourage Kosovar and international readers to become more involved in collective environmental issues, as a solution to problems that affect everyone.
She has informed that the publication in Albanian is on the way to concretization, in addition to the plans to promote it internationally, through festivals and fairs, as she aims for this book to be included in the schools of Kosovo.
But the author does not plan to stop there. In Kosovo, she intends to return with her second book.
“I hope this book will effect a change, I will try to promote it a lot. My grandson really liked the book about the dog, but he said: ‘can you do something about the bears’? And immediately I thought about the forest of bears here in Pristina and so my imagination was ignited”.
Shpend Kada, one of the pioneers of comics in Kosovo, appreciated Bergquist-Kosumi’s initiative as he said that with her book, maybe a new trend of creating graphic novels will start in Kosovo. In recent years, the graphic novel festival “Gran FEST”, founded by the artist Gani Jakupi, has brought well-known names and published several graphic novels, mostly translations, in addition to Jakupi’s own.
“There are almost no graphic novels or comics in our country, there used to be, but they were only in the Serbo-Croatian language, but not in Albanian. So a comeback is difficult since it has to be established from the beginning. Now I don’t even see interest among children, they are more focused on animation than comics, but there are two or three of us who are enthusiastic and if we can influence the new generations, because I am convinced that there are talents and interests, and some day maybe a comics magazine can be created here”.
The duo behind The Last Free Dog believe in the power of the graphic novel. Evidence is the work already published and the idea for the next novel.
by Enis Bytyqi, KTV
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