Founded in 1989 and named after a natural feature of our campus, The Cypress Dome is the University of Central Florida’s undergraduate literary journal. It is edited, designed, and produced by a selected editorial team of students from our literary organization, The Cypress Dome Society, as part of a year-long internship. 

We accept submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, flash, graphic narratives, and visual art from undergraduate students at UCF and those across the country. Submissions may be submitted in the fall semester to be considered for the annual issue published each spring. Writers may receive feedback on their work before submissions open during our Early Bird Feedback period. Please check our guidelines and FAQ before submitting.

General Submissions: Issue 38

Create first. Overthink later. Your name would look good in print.

Open from November 15th to December 31st 

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.

Early Bird Feedback 

Open from October 15th to October 31st

We’re happy to offer an opportunity for brief feedback to any writers who submit during this period. This pre-submission period does not count toward a submission for The Cypress Dome’s next issue, nor is it a guarantee that your piece will be accepted. However, it is a great opportunity to hear from our editorial staff, and you’ll receive feedback in time to revise your piece before general submissions. For Early Bird Feedback, please submit only one submission per person: one poem for poetry, one short story/essay of up to 5,000 words for fiction and creative nonfiction, or one piece of flash fiction/creative nonfiction of up to 1,000 words. All additional submissions will be automatically withdrawn.