Dan Needles

Dan Needles explores the world where city and country meet. He brings to life the wit and wisdom of the old rural community and shows how those voices still whisper in our ears today. For nearly thirty years his popular Wingfield Farm stage plays have filled theatres across Canada and the United States, including several seasons at the Stratford Festival and with Mirvish Productions in Toronto.

Vintage Canada/Random House released the complete collection of Wingfield stories, Wingfield's World, last October. Dan's latest multi-character play, Ed's Garage, appeared at London's Grand Theatre in January 2012 and moves to the Manitoba Theatre Centre in January 2013.

Dan won the 2003 Stephen Leacock Medal for humour for With Axe and Flask, the pioneer history of his mythical Persephone Township and he has served as the Honorary Mayor of Mariposa for the Leacock Festival for the last seven years. Since 1996 he has been a regular columnist with Harrowsmith-Country Life and Country Guide magazines and has just started new columns for Small Farm Canada and three Ontario regional magazines, On The Bay, In the Hills and Watershed.

For 25 years, Dan has entertained audiences ranging from the Perth County Holstein Club Ladies Night to the Muck Soils Research Station in Bradford. He also has appeared for the Canadian Club, The Canadian Bar Association, Royal Bank, the Royal Winter Fair, the Outdoor Farm Show, the Writer's Development Trust and hundreds of farm organizations across the country.

This summer he will be doing the colour commentary for the Canadian Sheep Shearing Championships in Holstein, Ontario with past Canadian champion Donnie Metheral. He will also be giving this year's talk at the Leacock Lunch hosted by McGill University at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

Dan lives with his wife, Heath, on a farm near Collingwood, Ontario, where they raise sheep and rare chickens.