Dan Needles Author and Playwright

Author and Playwright

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I am booking public speaking engagements for 2023! Please visit my Dan’s Appearances page to learn more.

dan-needles-authorFor 30 years, author and playwright Dan Needles has been bringing to life the stories and characters of his mythical Persephone Township, a fictional rural Canadian community two hours north of the big city. His Wingfield Farm series of stage plays have appeared in virtually every English speaking theatre in Canada, including the Stratford Festival and Royal Alex in Toronto and eventually became a popular television series aired on CBC, Bravo and the PBS networks. Thousands of readers have followed his magazine columns in Harrowsmith-Country Life, Country Guide, Small Farm Canada, In the Hills, On the Bay and Watershed.

Nominated three times for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Dan won in 2003 for his local history of Persephone Township, With Axe and Flask. He is the author of 12 plays, four books and hundreds of magazine columns.  From more than a thousand platforms, Dan has entertained crowds as a banquet and conference speaker, carrying a message of neighbourhood, affection and the power of farmer thinking.

Dan Needles stands squarely in the tradition of other comic chroniclers of the human condition such as T.C. Haliburton and Mark Twain…Persephone Township may not be on the map, but it is somewhere near the Canadian psyche.”
— The Globe and Mail —

True Confessions poster

A One-Horse Open Sleigh

My great-uncle Bob was the first member of our family to leave the rat race and seek the simple life … [.... Read more]

Larkspur Farm

For the past 30 years I’ve made a living writing about rural Canada, which is a bit odd considering … [.... Read more]

News, Fence Posts & Events

Finding Larkspur Book Cover

Pre-order Dan’s newest book!

Dan Needles shares laughter yet again … [More...]

Illustration by Shelagh Armstrong

FINDING OUR WAY AROUND THIS NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD

I used to have to drive two hours to … [More...]

cartoon of truck with garbage loaded

The Reformation of the Township Dump

In the days of early settlement, towns … [More...]

Shop Dan’s Books

Finding Larkspur Book Cover

Finding Larkspur – A Return to Village Life

True Confessions From the Ninth Concession

Winfield's World cover

Wingfield’s World

Axe & Flask book cover

With Axe and Flask

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Public Speaker

Dan Needles Guest Speaker

Dan is frequently asked to speak at conferences and banquets across the country, making us laugh about the old rural community and the way it meets the modern world.....read more

Contact Info

​Dan Needles

[email protected]

Tel 705-445-8790
Fax 705-445-9074

Dan needles author speaker

Latest Posts

  • Pre-order Dan’s newest book! August 29, 2023
  • FINDING OUR WAY AROUND THIS NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD June 29, 2023
  • The Reformation of the Township Dump March 28, 2023
  • Taking the Learning Curve Too Fast November 28, 2022

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