"In her collection Like Magic but Real, Maryam Daftari dances between the abstract and the actual with the flirting of Spring and Winter, with sun and shadows practicing tai chi, then dives into deep water with questions about immortality and making choices. Some of her short poems lead to a meditative experience of duration well beyond a simple reading. The poems are thought-provoking, taking us down a path first mystical, then one portraying Nature's magical surprises, and finally unveiling glimpses of the poet's personal life. This book is also to be valued for its accessibility." Lucille Morgan Wilson, contest chair and editor of the Iowa Poetry Association's anthology, Lyrical Iowa. Maryam Daftari is a poet, China specialist, pianist, and award-winning nature photographer. Although she started writing poetry as an undergraduate, winning several awards, in graduate school she chose Political Science as her area of study, with special emphasis on Chinese Government and Politics. Maryam has published three books and over 25 articles on Chinese affairs and has taught International Relations and Chinese Government and Politics at several universities for over two decades. Maryam has published in Lyrical Iowa, San Diego Poetry Annual; in Stand Forth and A Step Forward, the latter two, publications of the Society of Great River Poets of Iowa, of which she is a member. Her poems have also appeared in an anthology of San Diego poets entitled Sundays at Liberty Station.