Amanda Stewart is a contemporary Australian poet, sound and performance artist. Stewart began writing and performing poetry in the late 1970s, and has since built a career as Australia's premier sound poet. From 1983 to 1993, she was a radio producer at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, but has since worked mainly as a freelance writer and performer based in Sydney. In 1989, she was a co-founder of the text-sound ensemble Machine For Making Sense, and in 1995, co-founded the international musical trio ALLOS. She collaborated with composer Colin Bright on the opera The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, which was performed at the 1997 Sydney Festival and subsequently adapted for radio. From the 1990s, she has toured extensively in Europe performing her work, and has collaborated with a variety of artists, musicians, and performers. In 1998 she published a poetry collection, a book and CD set entitled I/T: Selected Poems 1980-1996, which won the FAW Anne Elder Award.