Science and stories have long been twin threads running through Zoulfa Katouh’s life. Growing up in Switzerland and Dubai as a Canadian-born girl of Syrian descent, she loved Anne of Green Gables and dreamed of studying English literature. But she also had a passion for science. The human body is “a story within itself,” she says, full of conflict and heroism—invading viruses and a valiant immune system staving them off. “My heart has always had two sides,” she adds.
Katouh pursued a career in pharmacology. Now a pharmacist working on cancer research and the debut author of the acclaimed novel As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow (Little, Brown), she has found a way to keep both sides of her heart engaged.
The story centers on 17-year-old Salama living in Homs, Syria. She had planned to study herbology, become a pharmacist, and travel the world, but her dreams get deferred when the Syrian revolution breaks out in 2011. She is thrust into the role of surgeon in the understaffed, under-resourced hospital near her home. Salama endures nearly unimaginable tragedy and perseveres, caring for her pregnant sister-in-law, Layla, who is set on immigrating to Germany. Salama must decide if she will try to start a new life abroad or stay to help her country and explore her budding relationship with Kenan, whom she meets while treating his sister at the hospital.
When the Syrian civil war began in 2011, Katouh was living in Dubai, where awareness of the war was widespread. Seven years later, her family had relocated to Switzerland. There, she studied German at a language center with immigrants and refugees from around the world. When classmates asked about her background, she found herself a de facto educator about the conflict. Though there was some awareness about it, most people she encountered knew of the turmoil only through the news or what they saw on social media. She recognized that there was an opportunity to draw people into the human dimensions of the war through story.
At that point, she had only written fan fiction. “It was cheesy and cringe,” Katouh says. “But it made me the writer I am today.” Seeking a writing community, she joined a local NaNoWriMo group in Switzerland in 2017 with the goal of completing a fantasy novel. Instead, she switched gears and began As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. “I had no plot at first,” she says. “It was just vibes at the beginning. I discovered the story as I was writing.”
With a draft complete, Katouh turned to Twitter for a writing community, found critiquing partners, and entered the online contest Pitch Wars. Her first entry wasn’t ready. “I didn’t even know I needed to edit it,” she says.
But after editing, she entered another pitch contest and caught the attention of her current agent, Alexandra Levick of Writers House. Levick offered her a revise and resubmit option along with a very detailed editorial letter. “It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Katouh says. “It was just as good as receiving an offer, because she was so passionate about this book.”
All the same, she continues, “I had the blueprint, but I didn’t know what to do.” She took some time off from writing, but in spring 2019 decided at the last minute to apply for Author-Mentor Match, a program that pairs aspiring authors with a published author who helps them to develop their manuscripts. She was accepted into the program and worked with Joan F. Smith (The Half-Orphan’s Handbook) for six months before resubmitting her book to Levick, who offered representation. Over the course of the next year and a half, the two revised the story two more times. When the book went out on offer, it sold to Little, Brown in four days, then Bloomsbury in the U.K. the next month. It has now sold in 20 territories.
“To have so many people support the book,” Katouh says, “has been mind-blowing to me.” She’s especially heartened by the teens she’s met during school visits, who have surprised her with their enthusiastic response to the book despite its challenging subject matter. She has heard from many in the Syrian community who have thanked her for telling their story. Still, she says, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is “just one story.” She adds, “I don’t want to be the exception. I want this to be the beginning. I want it to open the door for more Syrian stories.”
Katouh is currently working on a second contemporary YA novel focused on what happens after refugees reach their new homeland. The book, due out in 2024, is set in Washington State.
She intends to continue with both of her career paths. “I can never see myself not writing, but research is so fascinating.” She encourages aspiring writers not to forget to focus on what they love and believe in their stories. “Be kind to yourself and don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone’s journey is different. Write something you love. There’s someone out there who is going to love your book.”
