A method for producing poly-o-hydroxy amides by conversion of an activated dicarboxylic acid derivative with a bis-o-aminophenol. A solution of the activated dicarboxylic acid derivative is added to a solution of the bis-o-aminophenol in a lactone, and a tertiary amine is added to the resulting mixture, wherein the lactone has the following structure: ##STR1## where A is--(CR.sup.1 R.sup.2).sub.m --or--(CR.sup.3 R.sup.4).sub.n --NR.sup.5 --, R.sup.1 to R.sup.5 are independent of one another R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are hydrogen, alkyl with 1 to 7 carbon atoms (linear or branched), --CO(CH.sub.2).sub.p CH.sub.3, or --COO(CH.sub.2).sub.p CH.sub.3, with p=0 or 1, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are hydrogen or alkyl with 1 to 3 carbon atoms (linear or branched), R.sup.5 is hydrogen or methyl, m is a whole number from 2 to 11, and n is a whole number from 1 to 3.