The Cypress Dome Society is a University of Central Florida literary organization staffed by undergraduate students. Named after a feature of the landscape on the UCF campus, we are dedicated to fostering the literary arts and promoting a sense of community among writers and artists through events and our annual publication, The Cypress Dome, UCF's undergraduate literary journal.
Founded in 1989, The Cypress Dome received the Associated Writing Programs Directors’ Award for exceptional content in 1995. It is edited, designed, and produced by a selected editorial team of The Cypress Dome Society students as part of a year-long internship. Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, flash fiction/nonfiction, graphic narratives, and visual art may be submitted by students of the University of Central Florida in the fall term, according to submission guidelines distributed each fall, to be considered for publication in the annual issue published each spring.
General Submissions will be open from November 15th to December 31st.
37th Edition Theme: Tempest
The Cypress Dome invites you to explore the idea of Tempest. A Tempest is a violent and raging storm. When it tears through a landscape, it leaves only destruction in its wake. For this edition, we want to hear about your Tempest: whether it's physical or emotional, whether you survived it or caused it, or whether it's worlds away or right next door. When you're trapped in the eye of the Tempest, the only way to get through is to weather the storm.
No two people are the same, and no two interpretations need to be either. Our theme is here to serve as a spark for your imagination, not a boundary. We'd love to see where this theme takes your work, no matter what form it takes.
Submission Guidelines
Please review our submission guidelines and categories carefully. All submissions should include a professional cover letter. Do not include any personal or identifying information in your manuscript or file name. All submissions will be evaluated anonymously. Submissions that include personal information (excluding the cover letter) will be automatically rejected.
Submit your manuscript and cover letter using the appropriate link below. Only one submission per category. We do not accept previously published work, including work posted on social media, blogs, or personal websites. Simultaneous submissions are fine, as long as you include this in your cover letter and let us know if the piece gets accepted elsewhere.
All work must be entirely your own from inception to execution. We do not accept AI-generated or altered submissions. You have creative freedom, but please refrain from gratuitous use of gore, violence, expletives, and eroticism. Submissions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. You are encouraged but not required to include a content or trigger warning. All submissions will receive a response in the early spring semester. For questions, first, review our FAQ page, then reach out to our editors at cdome@ucf.edu.
We accept short stories of up to 6,000 words. We are open to literary fiction, elevated interpretations of familiar genres, experimental fiction, and hybrid work. We do not accept work that is part of a larger work or narrative.
All submissions must be double-spaced and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, or equivalent.
To learn what this year's fiction team is interested in, visit "What We're Looking For."
We accept up to 6,000 words of creative nonfiction writing, including but not limited to memoir, personal essays, literary journalism, lyric essays, visual essays, experimental nonfiction, and hybrid work.
We do not accept work that is part of a larger work or narrative.
All submissions must be double-spaced and in 12 pt. Times New Roman.
To learn what this year's creative nonfiction team is interested in, visit "What We're Looking For."
We accept a maximum of three poems submitted together in a single document. We are open to all forms and styles of poetry, including but not limited to prose poetry, experimental poetry, and hybrid work.
All submissions must be single-spaced and in 12 pt. Times New Roman, or equivalent.
Please start each poem on a new page and include a title for each one.
To learn what this year's poetry team is interested in, visit "What We're Looking For."
We accept flash submissions up to 1,000 words. You may submit up to three flash pieces together in a single document. Start each piece on a new page, and include a title and word count for each one.
Specify the genre (fiction or nonfiction) of the piece(s) in your cover letter. Please only submit flash pieces of the same genre.
All submissions must be double-spaced and in 12 pt. Times New Roman.
To learn what this year's fiction and creative nonfiction teams are interested in, visit "What We're Looking For."
We accept a maximum of five pieces of artwork per submission, including but not limited to: drawings, paintings, photography, and digital art.
All artwork should be submitted as a high-quality image. The best way to achieve this is by scanning the image and uploading the PDF to the submission form. Photos or low-resolution images will not be accepted.
Visual art submissions also have the opportunity to have their piece selected as the cover art for the upcoming issue. Please note in your cover letter if you would be interested in this opportunity.
To learn what this year's art team is interested in, visit "What We're Looking For."
We accept up to a maximum of four pages, black and white, fiction or nonfiction. Please specify genre in your cover letter.
To learn what this year's art team is interested in, visit "What We're Looking For."