Hugh "Gus" Ferguson (1 July 1940 – 27 December 2020) was a South African poet, small publisher, cartoonist, and pharmacist.

Career

Although a pharmacist by profession, Ferguson was best known as a prolific independent publisher of

South African poetry The poetry of South Africa covers a broad range of themes, forms and styles. This article discusses the context that contemporary poets have come from and identifies the major poets of South Africa, their works and influence. The South African ...

, primarily through his imprint Snailpress, based in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. Through Snailpress, and sometimes in collaboration with other presses, Ferguson published over 100 collections, many by notable South African poets, including Douglas Livingstone,

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Patrick Cullinan Patrick Roland Cullinan (21 May 1932 – 14 April 2011) was a South African poet and biographer. He was born in Pretoria into a significant diamond-mining family (his grandfather, Sir Thomas Cullinan, a diamond mine owner, gave his name t ...

, Don Maclennan,

Jonty Driver Charles Jonathan Driver, usually known as Jonty Driver, (born 1939) is a South African anti-apartheid activist, former political prisoner, educationalist, poet and writer. Childhood "Jonty" Driver was born in Cape Town in 1939, but spent the ...

, Isobel Dixon,

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, and Rustum Kozain. Ferguson was also the founder and publisher of ''Slugnews'', a literary magazine that ran for 30 issues from 1989 to 1994, and subsequently ''Carapace'', a poetry magazine that ran for 104 issues until 2015. As such, he has been described by Ben Williams, publisher of ''

The Johannesburg Review of Books ''The Johannesburg Review of Books'' (or ''JRB'') is a South African online magazine based on other literary magazines such as the ''New York'' and ''London Review of Books''. Its bi-monthly issues include reviews, essays, poetry, photographs, ...

'', as "South Africa's Atlas of poetry". Ferguson's own cartoons and poetry were published widely, including in more than a dozen books. He won various poetry and publishing prizes, among which were the AA Via Award, the Eleanor Anderson Special Award and the Molteno Medal. In 2009 he was awarded the English Academy of Southern Africa's Gold Medal for distinguished service to English literature.

Personal life

Ferguson was born in 1940 in

Selkirk, Scotland Selkirk is a town and historic royal burgh in the Scottish Borders council district of southeastern Scotland. It lies on the Ettrick Water, a tributary of the River Tweed. The people of the town are known as Souters, which means cobblers (sho ...

, but in 1949 moved with his parents to South Africa, where he was raised in

Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. It is situated by the Wilge River, alongside the N3 highway, abo ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, and finally

, where he spent his adult life with his wife and three children. He was an avid cyclist, completing over twenty

Cape Town Cycle Tour The Cape Town Cycle Tour is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the Union Cycliste Internationale's Golden Bike Series. South Africa hosts some of the l ...

s. He died on 27 December 2020.

Bibliography

*''Snail Morning'': ''Poems'' (1979) * ''Doggerel Day: Poems and Drawings'' (1982) * ''Carpe Diem: Poems & Drawings'' (1992) *''Icarus rising: Selected Poems'' (1994) * ''The Herding of the Snail: An Adaptation in Verse'', with pictures by Niki Daly (1995) * ''Light Verse at the End of the Tunnel: Poems, prose & drawings'' (1996) * ''Love Amongst the Middle-Aged and Other Cartoons'' (1997) * ''Stressed-Unstressed: Selected Poems and Drawings'' (2000) *''Arse poetica: Musings on Muse Abuse: Prose, oems, drawings, intertextualities'' (2003) *''Waiting for Gateau'' (2004) *''Dubious Delights: of Aging and Other Follies'' (2006) *''Holding Pattern: Poems & drawings'' (2009)

References

External links

Unlocked: Poems for Critical Times (Series Two, Part Five) on Gus Ferguson
* *
Carapace Literary JournalSouth Africa Poetry International Web : Gus Ferguson's tribute to Tatamkhulu Afrika
* 1940 births 2020 deaths Recipients of the Molteno medal South African cartoonists South African people of Scottish descent South African male poets {{publisher-stub