What the Water Knows: A Reading. Inspired by the elemental power of water to give rise to story, three noted authors will share their work. Inspired by the elemental power of water to give rise to story, three noted authors will share their work. Nina MacLaughlin will read from Wake, Siren, a recasting of Ovid’s myths in which the stories of monstrous transfiguration are sung, finally, by those transformed. Christina Thompson will share from her book Sea People, a story of miraculous navigation, and Tracy Winn will read House in the Field, River in the House, a short story based on a recent climate disaster.