´óÏó´«Ã½

Love literature? Love summer festivals? Well you're in for a treat this weekend as three different literary events are taking place in Wales.

First up is the inaugural Dinefwr Literary Festival that takes place across the weekend in the picturesque setting of the National Trust's Dinefwr Park and Castle in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire.

The festival runs from Friday 29 June to Sunday 1 July. Highlights will include performances by writers Gillian Clarke, Sir Andrew Motion, Howard Marks, Julian Cope and previous Wales Book of the Year winners Deborah Kay Davies, Philip Gross and John Harrison.

Newton House at Dinefwr. Image courtesy of the National Trust Photo Library/David Norton

Other authors appearing include Joe Dunthorne, Pascale Petit, Alastair Reynolds, Paul Henry, Robert Minhinnick, Wendy Cope, Catherine Fisher and Horatio Clare among many others.

There's a host of musical events happening too, with Gruff Rhys, Emmy The Great, Georgia Ruth, Ghostpoet, Steve Eaves and Jodie Marie all on the line-up.

Weekend and day passes are available - for more information see .

Meanwhile, the Beyond the Border storytelling festival returns to St Donat's Castle this weekend. The festival, which has an international feel with participants from across the globe, carries on the oral tradition that has been well versed in Wales over the centuries.

Beyond The Border is Wales' leading international festival of storytelling. The biennial storytelling festival, which began in 1993, celebrates the worlds of myth, legend and folktales with performances by storytellers, musicians, writers and artists from Wales and the world.

There are a number of themes running at this year's festival in addition to the individual artist performances. These include celebrating 200 years of Grimm's Fairy Tales and honouring the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Plus there's a look at journeys along the Silk Road and an exploration of the myths and legends of Celtic Britain.

Beyond the Border in 2010. Photo: James Mendelssohn

The art of storytelling is not a new one in Wales as the country has enjoyed a long history with the tradition: it was known as the . Wales can also boast an impressive literary history, with examples of texts dating back to the sixth century: browse articles on early Welsh literature on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales Arts website.

Beyond the Border runs from Friday 29 June until Sunday 1 July. For the full line-up and ticket information visit .

Finally, Busk on the Usk is a one day festival on Saturday taking place at the Riverfront Theatre and the City Campus of the University of Wales, Newport. It is the Welsh Contemporary Music contribution to the London 2012 Festival, but the festival also has a number of discussions and literary readings.

The team behind the have helped to organise the literary side of the festival with authors including Pauline Black, Malcolm Pryce and musician, artist and writer Jon Langford on the line-up.

All the events at Busk on the Usk are free but ticketed, so for more information and the full line-up visit .