Maryam Daftari is a poet, pianist, and award-winning nature photographer with a 30-year career as a political science lecturer and China specialist. Her poetry, Embrace the Dawn, was a 2026 Pushcart Prize nominee and her work is frequently featured in the San Diego Poetry Annual and Lyrical Iowa. She is the author of four collections, including Kintsugi: Poems of Hope and Healing, and won first place in the 2024 Iowa Poetry Association competition for her work in the ghazal style.
