Born in Arad, Pecican graduated from the University of Cluj-Napoca (currently known as the "Babeș-Bolyai University", UBB) in 1985. He published his first short story in 1978. During the late 1970s, he was active in the underground movie-making movement in his native city, as a member of the "Atelier 16" Club, together with Gheorghe Sabău, Mircea Mihăieş, Ioan T. Morar, Valentin Constantin, Alexandru Pecican and others. As a student, between 1981 and 1985, he became a member of the staff of the periodicals "Napoca Universitară" and "Echinox". Regularly featured in various literary magazines, his prose was first edited in a single volume in 1990 ("Eu și maimuța mea", "Me and My Monkey" — published by Editura Dacia).