Edgar was born in Sydney in 1951 where he attended Sydney Technical High School. Between 1971 and 1974 he lived in London and worked as a library assistant in the London Borough of Lambeth. On returning to Australia, he moved to Hobart, Tasmania, where he read English and Classics at the University of Tasmania, receiving a BA in 1978 and a Graduate Diploma in Librarianship in 1985.

In 2005 he returned to Sydney. He is married to Australian poet Judith Beveridge.

His first published poetry appeared in 1979 in the Tasmanian literary quarterly Island (originally The Tasmanian Review). From 1986 to the present he has been subeditor of Island and was poetry editor between 1989 and 1994. He is the author of seven books of poetry.

As well as extensive publication of his verse in print media, Stephen Edgar has published poetry in online poetry magazines such as Snorkel [1], The Poetry Foundation [2], and The Chimaera [3].

As poet Kevin Hart observed, Edgar “is distinctive for a firm commitment to closed forms and for showing considerable panache in handling them”.

Other critical material on Stephen Edgar includes a close reading by Clive James of Edgar's 'Man on the Moon' in the Poetry Foundation's online magazine.

For further information on Australian poets see List of Australian poets