kuš! (speak kush!) is the only comics magazine in Latvia. kuš! aims to popularize comics in a country where comics are practically non-existent and promote both Latvian and international artists. They were awarded The Best Alternative Comic at Angouleme Festival, the the biggest comics convention in the world, in January 2012.

Since it was founded in 2007, kuš! has published 20 anthologies with short comics from 60 Latvian and 140 artists from all over Europe and rest of the world, including China, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, USA and Canada. Some artists are already well known, while others are still emerging. Sometimes kuš! holds open calls when everyone is invited to submit their work.

All the issues are in full color, but the format and names change according to the obstacles of funding and moods of the editors. Every issue contains artistic comics from international and Latvian artists to a certain topic which changes every time. While in the beginning all the comics where published in Latvian as kuš!, since 2009 the anthology has been published in a smaller format with the name š! in English, therefore reaching a wider audience outside Latvia.

The latest issue was š! #9 ‘female secrets’. It contains 160 pages of comics from 27 female cartoonists. Another recent project was š! #8 ‘midnight sun’, featuring some of the most-cutting edge comics from Finland.  You can get both from Kuš! webshop.

kuš! also organises exhibitions, workshops and takes part in international festivals.

You can find more about kuš! on their website, read their blog & Tumblr, and follow them on Twitter & Facebook.

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