Spend a cozy winter afternoon with the newest issue of The Southern Review! Find out what happens when a woman on the run befriends a fugitive monkey in Karin Lin-Greenberg’s “Escapees,” or help Michael Downs investigate the origin of a mysterious letter that was sent to him thirty years ago in his essay, “Answer When You Can.” You can plot vengeance while caretaking the Spanish villa of Russian exiles in Pilar Adón’s harrowing story “Sweet Desdemona,” or let things take a lighter turn and watch a hapless man fail to impress a librarian in a new poem by the late Charles Simic. Enjoy new work from Winniebell Xinyu Zong, who writes about a mother as a young woman enjoying time alone before marriage and children changed her life, or consider the dilemma of a young woman who runs too many marathons in María José Navia’s “Emergency Contact.” Along with new poems by Bonnie Jo Campbell, Aza Pace, and Jim Whiteside, the issue features the artwork of Kate Samworth, who uses images made with scratchboard to tell stories about changes in the natural world. We also proudly announce the winners of our annual James Olney and Oran Robert Perry Burke Awards.