About Wordplay Wisdom
Get to know the dedicated writer who founded Wordplay Wisdom!
Madelyn Dietz, posing with her poetry thesis in front of Nassau Hall, Princeton, NJ.
As the first homeschooled National Student Poet, the nation’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work, she has had the honor of supporting young writers across the country. Her fiction is equally recognized: Madelyn was named a YoungArts Winner in Short Story and was one of only 20 US Presidential Scholars in the Arts in 2020. She graduated from Princeton University in 2025 with high honors, receiving the prestigious Joyce Carol Oates Award for poetry and prose.
To learn more about her teaching and writing history, check out her LinkedIn:
Madelyn has been creating stories since she could speak.
She'd ask her mother, middle-grade fiction author Stephanie Surles, to write down her toddler babblings because she wanted, with all her heart, to be a writer. Now, she's dedicated herself to helping others seek out their writerly dreams, too!
FAQ:
Wordplay Wisdom is the resource Madelyn wished she'd had herself when she was a young writer.
Having watched her mother search endlessly for quality writing resources and teaching, she created this space to save other families from the hours and hours of research Stephanie conducted and the struggles both mother and daughter faced as they worked to help Madelyn improve her writing skills and connect with other young writers.
Simply put, Wordplay Wisdom was created to ensure other young writers feel supported in developing their very own creative voice!
Our most distinctive offering is bespoke 1:1 writing mentorship for gifted young writers. Wordplay Wisdom is built on the belief that young writers are ready for in-depth, growth-focused work, and our mentorship program delivers on that belief. We have ample information on our different mentorship pathways, to ensure you can find the best fit for your family.
We also host cohort classes, which gives young writers both the community of a small group setting and the essential writerly skill of workshopping thoughtfully.
There's also ample free resources to discover on our site! You can find the books, publications, contests, and tools we have found most useful on our resources page. Be sure to check out Madelyn and Stephanie's free course on making the most of your local library, and Madelyn's email guide on helping support gifted creatives through writer's block!
Questions? Please feel free to email Madelyn directly at madelyn@wordplaywisdom.com
You can also come say hello on Instagram: @Wordplay_Wisdom_Writers
and on Facebook: @WordplayWisdom
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