# Gus Ferguson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gus_Ferguson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gus_Ferguson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Ferguson > Source revision: 1285913750 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|South African poet and publisher (1940–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox writer | name = Gus Ferguson | image = | image_size = 200px | birth_date = {{birth date|1940|7|1|df=y}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|12|27|1940|1|1|df=y}} | birth_place = [Selkirk](/source/Selkirk%2C_Scottish_Borders), [Scotland](/source/Scotland) | death_place = [South Africa](/source/South_Africa) | occupation = Publisher, poet, pharmacist | nationality = [South Africa](/source/South_Africa)n | magnum opus = | influences = | influenced = }} '''Hugh "Gus" Ferguson''' (1 July 1940 – 27 December 2020){{Cite web|date=2021-01-11|title=Gus Ferguson: Old poets never die, they simply decompose|url=https://www.litnet.co.za/gus-ferguson-old-poets-never-die-they-simply-decompose/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=LitNet}} was a South African poet, [small publisher](/source/Small_press), cartoonist, and pharmacist. == Career == Although a pharmacist by profession, Ferguson was best known as a prolific independent publisher of [South African poetry](/source/South_African_poetry), primarily through his imprint Snailpress, based in [Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town).{{Cite web|date=2020-12-27|title=Gus Ferguson, 1940—2020, RIP|url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2020/12/27/gus-ferguson-1940-2020-rip/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=The Johannesburg Review of Books|language=en-US}} Through Snailpress, and sometimes in collaboration with other presses, Ferguson published over 100 collections, many by notable South African poets, including [Douglas Livingstone](/source/Douglas_Livingstone_(poet)), [Tatamkhulu Afrika](/source/Tatamkhulu_Afrika), [Ingrid de Kok](/source/Ingrid_de_Kok), [Patrick Cullinan](/source/Patrick_Cullinan), [Don Maclennan](/source/Don_Maclennan), [Jonty Driver](/source/Jonty_Driver), [Isobel Dixon](/source/Isobel_Dixon), [Finuala Dowling](/source/Finuala_Dowling), and [Rustum Kozain](/source/Rustum_Kozain).{{Cite web|title=Gus Ferguson to Receive Gold Medal from the English Academy|url=http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2009/07/30/gus-ferguson-to-receive-gold-medal-from-the-english-academy/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=Sunday Times Books LIVE @ Sunday Times Books LIVE|date=30 July 2009|language=en}} 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](/source/The_Johannesburg_Review_of_Books)'', 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](/source/The_Cape_Tercentenary_Foundation). 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](/source/Selkirk%2C_Scottish_Borders), but in 1949 moved with his parents to South Africa, where he was raised in [Harrismith](/source/Harrismith), [Durban](/source/Durban), and finally [Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town), where he spent his adult life with his wife and three children. He was an avid cyclist, completing over twenty [Cape Town Cycle Tour](/source/Cape_Town_Cycle_Tour)s. He died on 27 December 2020.{{Cite web |last=Moffett |first=Helen |date=2020-12-29 |title=Maverick Citizen: Obituary: Gus Ferguson, 1940-2020, kind mentor for a generation of southern Africa poets |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-12-29-gus-ferguson-1940-2020-kind-mentor-for-a-generation-of-southern-africa-poets/ |access-date=2020-12-29 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} ==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== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-06-01-unlocked-poems-for-critical-times-series-two-part-five/ Unlocked: Poems for Critical Times (Series Two, Part Five) on Gus Ferguson] *{{YouTube|2WKTqUd8HRA|Video of Gus Ferguson reading his poetry}} *{{YouTube|0YPhflNOv98|Video of Gus Ferguson reading children's poetry}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080303111931/http://carapace.book.co.za/ Carapace Literary Journal] *[http://southafrica.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=5369/ South Africa Poetry International Web : Gus Ferguson's tribute to Tatamkhulu Afrika] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003091347/http://southafrica.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=5369/ |date=3 October 2011 }} *{{cite web|url=https://www.cape300foundation.org.za/archives-awards.htm|title=The Cape Tercentenary Foundation Medal}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Gus}} Category:1940 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Recipients of the Molteno medal Category:South African cartoonists Category:South African people of Scottish descent Category:South African male poets {{cartoonist-stub}} {{SouthAfrica-poet-stub}} {{publisher-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gus Ferguson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Ferguson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Ferguson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.