When I arrived on Rikers Island in January 2019 to await trial for an assault charge, I knew it would be dangerous — after all, the women’s jail is notorious for chronic abuse, unsanitary conditions and violence. But what I did not know was that I would become one of hundreds of inmates at Rikers to contract the coronavirus.

I remember watching the TV in early March 2020 when a lawyer from Westchester County was reported to be the source of several cases in New York.

In the beginning, none of...

New York City, New York - In addition to fiction, essays, and creative work, Michele Evans publishes independent journalism and public-interest reporting focused on New York City courts, justice, incarceration, survivor advocacy, media accountability, and government transparency.

Her reporting draws on lived experience, legal records, public documents, firsthand observation, and advocacy work to examine how institutions affect real people.

Read the full journalism archive here: Independent...

New York City New York - Big news: I’ve launched a new independent journalism and public-interest reporting hub, bringing together my latest work on courts, incarceration,...

The new Video Media Hub is now live, bringing together Michele Evans’ television, sports media, public advocacy, creative history, and documentary-style video record in one...

The new Michele Evans News & Advocacy page is now live, bringing together media coverage about her, public testimony, survivor advocacy, creative history, in one central...

Utah has a food culture all its own.

It is part pioneer pantry, part church potluck, part family reunion, part holiday table, and part “someone’s aunt definitely brought this in a glass casserole dish with foil over the top.”

It is sweet, creamy, salty, nostalgic, practical, and occasionally alarming to outsiders who are not emotionally prepared for marshmallows to appear in places they did not expect.

But that is the charm.

Utah holiday food is not trying to be sleek, coastal, or pretentious....

Memorial Day weekend arrives every year with a very specific kind of energy.

Suddenly, everyone is acting like summer has officially been sworn into office. The grills come out. The white jeans appear. The beach bags emerge from storage. Grocery stores become combat zones for hamburger buns, watermelon, sunscreen, and last-minute bags of ice.

In New York, the holiday weekend is especially chaotic. Half the city tries to leave. The other half stays behind and pretends the city is suddenly...

I haven’t written a blog post in a while, but tonight felt like the right time.

Sometimes the most healing things are not complicated. They do not require a perfect schedule, a perfect family, a perfect home, or everyone living under the same roof.

Sometimes healing looks like everyone logging into a video call on a Monday night, someone’s dog barking in the background, grandkids popping in and out of the screen, and everyone laughing because, for once, we are all together.

That is what Family...