A leading poet in Maltese and English, Daniel Massa has published widely on Renaissance Humanism and Commonwealth Literature. In 2005 he chaired the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. In 2013 he published a 900-page biography, PSI Kingmaker. Life, Thought and Adventures of Peter Serracino Inglott. Coinciding with CHOGM 2015, Barefoot in the Saltpans is a selection of Massa’s poetry, characterised by seascape imagery, gripping in its vividness and physicality.  

Extract from the book’s Foreword by Jim Crace:

'In Daniel Massa’s poetry, as in a parachute jump the reader steps out, plummets soars is fearful rapturous and grounded … towards these profound, hurtling and secretive pieces, these fearless and demanding works. The distinctive triumph of Daniel Massa is that unfailingly throughout this current collection he demonstrates his exceptional skill at writing in English with the intimacy of a native speaker without stifling the cadence and percussion of his home language. His work is accented both to the ear and even – unvoiced – on the page it is wind-blown, salty, sun-kissed and unambiguously Mediterranean … take deep pleasure from the abandonment and control of Daniel Massa’s voice, witness him take risks with the intrepid precision of a tight-rope walker. Make this volume your intimate companion for a month or so, as one must with any worthwhile poetry.  You will discover fresh rewards on each occasion.'