Creative writing by

melissa e. ferguson

forthcoming in 2027 From apprentice house press, catch and release:

In 1975, young Abernathy Gillum, who is white, scrapes out a living with his father in an old sharecroppers’ cabin in North Carolina’s rural pine woods. After Abernathy’s mother leaves to chase her singing career, he befriends John-Michael Davidson, the Black boy who lives in the Big House across the pond—and soon learns the bitter history entwining his mother’s family and the Davidsons. The boys grow closer, kindergarten provides Abernathy with both free lunches and a nemesis, and yet his needs at home exceed what kind neighbors and teachers can provide.

When his father Ryle’s dependencies on his best friend and lover turn for the worse, in steps Abernathy’s Aunt Cody, Ryle’s sister. Anchored in a bustling integrated community center since her fiancé’s death in Viet Nam, Cody helps her nephew navigate small town family conventions—and builds her confidence in seeking closer companionship with her boss.

Amidst the effects of the Viet Nam war and in the early years of North Carolina’s desegregation of public schools, Catch and Release follows Abernathy’s quest for a loving home through his mother’s return, when Abernathy alone determines where and to whom he belongs.

publications

  • “Couch” won the FINALIST prize in the 2025 F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Short Story contest! Contest judge Nate Brown, Senior Lecturer and Associate Director of the Writing Center at Johns Hopkins University, said of “Couch”:

    “Moments like this are what great fiction are made of. You swing for the fences here rhetorically and narratively, and there’s a huge payoff: this is both meaningful, engaging, and thoughtful while also being very entertaining. You do a wonderful job in this story of building tension, which makes the ending all that much better. Very nice work!”

    LINK TO FULL STORY: https://fitzgeraldfestival.com/winners-of-the-2025-short-story-contest/.

  • “Killing It/Talent Show,” short story in Grit & Gravity, May 2025, vol. XI of the Grace and Gravity series

  • “Fair Winds,” short story in Pen in Hand, January 2025, Maryland Writers’ Association

about melissa E. Ferguson

Melissa has been a storyteller since she was a child playing barefoot in the woods of North Carolina. Like Abernathy, the protagonist of Catch and Release, in 1975 Melissa attended kindergarten early in North Carolina’s full integration of public schools. Melissa earned a BA in creative writing from the Pennsylvania State University and an MS in women’s studies from Towson University. She lives in Maryland and is a member of The Authors Guild.

Photo credit: Jamie Wulfekuhle-Zaweski.

upcoming event:

  • Stay tuned!