THE Bridport Book Store is throwing a ‘Big Bookshop Party’ on Saturday with debut novelist Juliet West.

The party is to launch this year’s Books Are My Bag campaign – the biggest nationwide celebration and promotion of books and high street bookshops held in the UK.

As part of this year’s campaign, organisers plan to have an author in every bookshop.

Debut novelist Juliet West, a former Bridport News reporter, will be in the South Street store from 11am to 1pm, reading from her First World War novel Before The Fall.

Customers also have the chance to win a limited edition Tracey Emin-designed “Books Are My Bag” cloth bag. Claire Hart, the new owner of Bridport Book Shop, said: “We are delighted to welcome Juliet into our store to meet our customers. Author events have always been at the heart of what makes bookshops so special and the Big Bookshop Party is an opportunity to come together and for customers to share their love of books.”

Mum-of-three Juliet will introduce Before The Fall at 11am with a short talk.

She said: “It’s a moving tale of a love affair, set in the East End during World War One and based on an unforgettable real life story.”

Before her creative writing career Juliet worked as a trainee reporter at the Bridport News before moving to the Dorset Evening Echo.

She added: “I was at the Bridport News for a year.

“I fell in love with Bridport and it’s wonderful to see how the town has thrived over the years.”

Juliet took an MA in creative writing at Chichester University, where she won the Kate Betts’ Memorial Prize.

Her debut novel was shortlisted for the Myriad Editions novel writing competition in 2012.

She also writes short stories and poetry, and won the H E Bates short story prize in 2009.