Although a pharmacist by profession, Ferguson was best known as a prolific independent publisher of
South African poetry, primarily through his imprint Snailpress, based in
Cape Town. Through Snailpress, and sometimes in collaboration with other presses, Ferguson published over 100 collections, many by notable South African poets, including
Douglas Livingstone,
Tatamkhulu Afrika,
Ingrid de Kok,
Patrick Cullinan,
Don Maclennan,
Jonty Driver,
Isobel Dixon,
Finuala Dowling, 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, 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 ==