An Evening of Memoir

Join CapLit for the final event of our 2026 season, featuring selections from the recently published memoirs of Kate Washington and Captain Nia Gilliam. Nia Gilliam’s Cleared for Takeoff features an eyewitness account of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center from the cockpit of the last jet cleared for takeoff at Newark Airport that morning, and its aftermath. Kate Washington’s Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims, chronicles her 50 Dunks Project, a series of immersions in different bodies of water in order to reconnect with her true self before her 50th birthday. Both selections will be read aloud by local actors.

Captain Nia Gilliam is an accomplished airline pilot with over 25 years of experience. A trailblazer in aviation, she co-founded Sisters of the Skies, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing Black female commercial pilots. Her contributions have earned her numerous prestigious awards and media recognition. In 2001, she witnessed the 9/11 attacks from the flight deck at Newark Airport, a moment that shaped her career and life. A Chicago native now living in Houston, she is a breast cancer survivor, champion for representation in aviation, and proud mother of two. Kate Washington is the author of Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims (Beacon Press, 2026) and Already Toast: Caregiving and Burnout in America (Beacon Press, 2021). Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Oprah Daily, TIME, HuffPost, Eater, and many other publications. She holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and lives in Sacramento with her two daughters.

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