By Alex Kramer
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An introverted mind can lead to great things, its cogs eternally cranking out something new, ghastly, or even brave. This is certainly the case for Hannah Pittard, the acclaimed novelist who will come to Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque St., at 7 p.m. today to read from her new novel, Listen to Me.
From an early age, she unearthed what a wallflower of a child could do walking through her or his head.
“I was never lonely when I was making things up and putting it on paper,” she said.
With numerous accolades — including a recent New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice” distinction for Listen to Me — it is safe to say Pittard continues to live up to them in her work.
    Listen to Me, in which a phobia of technology spars with a fear of people, reflects Pittard’s aversions.
“It’s about a couple, and they’re in crisis,” she said. “One of them is scared of technology, one of them is scared of people, and in a world populated with technology and people, where can they go?”
The novel has been labeled as a thriller, but not necessarily in the traditional sense. Rather than roll out the  standard blood and gore, Pittard’s story casts the spotlight on the manifestation of society’s more quotidian fears.
“What I’m interested in as not just a reader but a human being who has a lot of irrational fears herself … is not vampires in the shadows but real people in the shadows,” Pittard said. “I’m interested in real fears, and real dangers, and what is lurking out there. What is dangerous and what is not dangerous, in the sense that sometimes we are taught to be more frightened of things than we should be.”
The first time Pittard read at Prairie Lights, for her début novel, The Fates Will Find Their Way, the experience was filled with technology.
“There was at least one class, if not two, of University of Iowa undergraduates who were live-blogging the reading,” she recalled. “I remember just being so distracted by these kids. To me, it was like they weren’t paying attention, but, of course, they were; they were putting it online.”
Despite this, Pittard said, she looks forward to reading once again at Prairie Lights, in which the legendary bookshop’s staff eagerly awaits her return.
“She uses her words so beautifully [that] the language sort of unfolds the story in your mind like a dream,” said Prairie Lights event coordinator Kathleen Johnson. “She is the ideal writer to host, because not only is her work really good, she’s just a well-above-average human. She’s the kind of author who is here to see us as much as we are here to see her. ”
Pittard said she holds a genuine place in her heart to do readings, comparing herself with the likes of Jimmy Fallon in the sense that both refuse to take their jobs and opportunities for granted. She said the reality of her luck is not lost on her, however hard she worked to get here.
“Especially after months and sometimes years, sometimes many years working on one project, getting to go to a reading is a gift,” she said. “It brings me pleasure to get to talk to people and not just to talk about myself. I love hearing the ways that art might make people think differently or writers articulate something they’ve felt but never been able to put words to. There could be two people in the audience, I’ll want to go.”

WORDS
What: Hannah Pittard reading
Where: Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque
When: 7 p.m. today
Cost: Free