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A new festival organised by offers the chance to hear some of Wales' leading authors, poets and scholars speak about their latest works, with many of the events absolutely free of charge.

The launch weekend of the Creative Minds festival takes place on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 October, but this just marks the start of a series of events that continues into the remainder of the year.

The festival kicks off on the Friday evening with a free screening and post-film discussion of Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Rear Window.

Alfred Hitchcock

Then on the Saturday there are more events than you can shake a stick at, but these are some of the ones that I've picked out:

Gwyneth Lewis. Photo: Tim Brett

• The inaugural national poet of Wales Gwyneth Lewis will talk about her book The Meat Tree, one of Seren's series New Stories from the Mabinogion.
• Lewis will also take part, alongside fellow author Chris Meredith, in a Desert Island Literature event in which both will share their favourite poems, plays and passages of literature.
• Journey Back in Time with Jim Cowan involves a walk around Cathays Park in which you can learn about the interesting history of the park and surrounding area.
• There are three different in conversation events with author Ned Thomas, the winner of the Welsh language 2011 Wales Book of the Year prize, one of which is in the medium of Welsh.
• John Harrison, winner of this year's English language Welsh Book of the Year prize for Cloud Atlas, will be speaking about his award-winning travel novel.
• Plus there's a screening of Ang Lee's 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility, followed by a panel discussion, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's first novel.

All of the events above are free of charge, and there are many more to choose from, but booking is essential for many of the events. To browse the full schedule and to book a place, visit the website .

The Creative Minds festival has been organised by the university as part of the showcase, which seeks to celebrate the city's wealth of creative talent.

Beyond the launch weekend, the programme will continue with 38 different talks, concerts, comedy nights, author readings and more, scheduled across November and December 2011.