Coming soon from Ketabi Studio
Their whole life is a story. Start asking for it.
One question a week for a year, sent to your parent or grandparent. They answer with a voice note or in writing, in any language. At the end, their answers become a hardcover memoir your family keeps forever.
Founding families lock the launch price and choose the first question.
How it works
They talk. We keep it forever.
- 01Gift itYou choose the storyteller, a parent or grandparent, and we welcome them by email or WhatsApp-friendly link.
- 02One question a weekEvery week for a year they receive one question, written for our families. They answer with a voice note or in writing, in any language they love.
- 03The family reads alongAnswers collect in a private family page during the year. Add photos to the stories as they arrive.
- 04The hardcover arrivesTheir year of stories, arranged into chapters, printed as a 6 by 9 inch full-color hardcover. Extra copies for every sibling.
The finished book
One book. One family. Their name on the cover.
A 6 by 9 inch hardcover, printed in full color, made once for one family. Nothing about it is generic.
Written for our families
Questions no other memoir service would think to ask.
Fifty-two questions in eight chapters, from beginnings to wisdom. Swap any of them for your own.
- The World of Their Childhood
What sounds do you remember from your street or neighborhood? The adhan, vendors, animals, neighbors?
- Faith
What is your earliest memory of Ramadan? When did you first fast the whole month?
- Leaving and Arriving
What did you carry with you when you moved? What did you have to leave behind?
- Love and Family
How did you choose your children's names?
- Work and Struggle
What sacrifice did you make that your children may never have noticed?
- Wisdom
If this book is read by a great-grandchild you never meet, what do you want to say to them?
Why voice first
Because they already tell stories this way.
Typing a weekly email is where other memoir projects quietly die. Our parents talk: on the phone, over tea, in the voice notes they already send the family group chat. Ketabi Memoir meets them there. They speak, in Urdu or Arabic or English or all three, and their words, and their voice, are kept.
The book
- 6 by 9 inch hardcover, full-color interior
- Their stories in chapters, with your family photos
- Printed made-to-order, like every Ketabi keepsake
- Extra copies for every sibling
Good to know
Before you ask the first question.
How is this different from Storyworth?
Two ways. First, your parent can answer every question with a voice note instead of typing, in any language they are comfortable in, the same way they already talk to family on WhatsApp. Second, it is one price, one time. There is no subscription and nothing auto-renews.
What if my parent does not write in English?
They do not have to write at all, and they do not have to use English. Voice answers can be spoken in Urdu, Arabic, Somali, Turkish, Bengali, or any language. We transcribe them, and the family can keep the original language, use a translation, or print both.
What are the questions like?
Fifty-two questions written for our families: the sounds of the neighborhood they grew up in, their first Ramadan fasting, why they left home and what they carried, how they chose your name, the dua they make for you when you are not listening. You can swap any question for your own.
What book do we receive at the end?
A 6 by 9 inch hardcover, printed in full color, with their stories arranged into chapters alongside the family photos you add. It is the same made-to-order print quality as every Ketabi keepsake.
Who is this for?
Usually a gift: children buy it for a parent, or grandchildren for a grandparent. The storyteller answers one question a week, and the whole family can read along during the year.
While they are still telling stories