Theresa Ast, daughter of a Polish immigrant who arrived in America in 1951, and whose professional career has been spent teaching European History in Southern colleges and universities, has just published her first book of poetry. Like most people she wrote poetry while in college, but soon the demands of career and family put an end to that. After a 35 year hiatus she began writing poetry again in 2012 shortly after her father's death. Dressing the Bones contains poems about life, family, sorrow, myth, and joy. They are lyrical, never far from narrative and often contemplative. The author says, "It is as if all the busy years of family and university teaching were not creatively barren times as they sometimes seemed, but silent and hidden preparation for the poetry that would emerge late in life. The author grew up in a family of artists, was always surrounded by paintings, photography, and sculpture, so it seemed natural and even necessary, to include the visual in Dressing the Bones. Theresa Ast is currently editing her Polish grandmother's poetry and hopes to release a book of poetry, paintings and sculpture in the near future.