After attending the local Nicu Gane High School from 1923 to 1930, he studied at the law faculty of the University of Iași from 1930 to 1932.
He also contributed to Adevărul literar și artistic, Vremea, Viața Românească, Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Cuvântul liber and Reporter.
He wrote numerous volumes of short stories (Nunta de argint, 1938; Câinii, 1939; Cântecul uitat, 1942; Furtuna, 1948; Când doarme pământul, 1948) and novels (Idolii de lut, 1935; Infirmii, 1936; Grădina lui Dumnezeu, 1939; Sanda, 1941; Casa amintirilor, 1942; Fete bătrâne, 1946; Pâinea inimii, 1949; Pământ și oameni, 1957; Circul, 1972).
His 1969 memoir, Amintiri, features his recollections of important interwar writers, including Ionel Teodoreanu, Damian Stănoiu, and Felix Aderca.
Although his themes are not rural, Șerban's prose, due to its lyrical tone and passivity in the face of one's environment, features within the late Sămănătorist tradition.