As well as being a playwright, Murray Edmond is also a recognised poet, editor and critic. He was born in Hamilton and attended Hamilton Boy High School and the University of Auckland, where he completed his MA and PhD in English.

Since the 1970s Murray has been active, both in New Zealand and overseas, in alternative theatre groups including Living Theatre, Beggars Bag Theatre, Theatre Action and the Town and Country Players. He has had an equally long involvement with writing and was a founder member of the influential magazine Freed.
He was the writer in residence at the University of Canterbury in 1983, after which he moved to Auckland to work with Mercury Theatre. Since 1985 he has taught the University of Aucklands Post-graduate Diploma in Drama.