If you call me, my dear orchard, I will hear you, I will come’ 

Gemma Barnett grew up in Enfield until she was 18. This spoken word piece explores the fond yet complex relationships we can have with the areas and environments we grow up in- joy and sorrow mixed together- as Gemma sees into her memories of the spaces, places and faces that shaped her childhood and teenage life.  

Gemma is an award winning actor, writer and poet. Her piece ‘The Front Desk’ won the ‘Poetry for Good’ prize and was featured on BBC Woman’s Hour. She was a winning finalist of BBC Words First in 2021 with ‘i killed them when they came for my kid’. She was long-listed for the Evening Standard Short Story Competition 2022. Her poem ‘My Abortion was Funny’ was selected for the Verve Poetry Festival Anthology on Protest and commended for the Outspoken Poetry Prize 2023. Her debut short film ‘Bridge’ is currently in post production and produced by Nina Georgieff, Kusini Productions and BBC Films. ‘Bridge’ began as a performance poem commissioned by Theatre Deli for ‘Pandemic in a City’ before it went on to be commissioned by the BBC to adapt into a short film.