Paul Voermans (born 4 June 1960) is a science fiction author from Australia. His novel And Disregards the Rest is the story of a theatrical production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, set in the Australian outback. Its twin themes of insanity and colonialism combine with science fictional elements and Voermans's production experience in the form of two narrative streams: Martin Leywood's self-published rant Charms All O'erthrown, a first person account of the ill-fated outback show by one who was driven mad by the incidents around it; and a third-person account of the weird consequences of Leywood's Tempest, featuring one of the other actors, Kevin Gore, who begins to hear voices.
Disregards has been characterised in Tempests After Shakespeare by Chantal Zabus as: "...hinting at recent cross-breeding of postmodernism and sci-fi in its cyberpunk dimension." She goes on:
And Disregards the Rest was shortlisted for the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award, the Ditmar Award, and was published in German by Heyne-Verlag.
The Weird Colonial Boy is a parallel universe novel set in 1970s Australia. An early example of SF which harks back to that era and an indirect fable of political slapstick, Voermans uses SF tropes as an excuse to tell the story of the hapless Nigel Donohoe, a suburban fish-loving clod without a purpose, and his trip into a much harsher Australia than he is used to. The combination of ridiculous rebellion against convictism, excremental humour, naturalism and strong Australian language have produced extreme reactions both for and against the book. Without heavy scientific element, this work could be considered slipstream fiction written from the "inside" of the field.
The Weird Colonial Boy was also shortlisted for the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award, the Ditmar Award, and was published in German by Heyne.