Born in Crișan, Hunedoara County, in the Transylvania region, his parents Ion Bârna and Maria (née Pavel) were peasants.
After graduating from Avram Iancu High School in Brad in 1932, he entered the literature and philosophy faculty of the University of Bucharest, earning his degree in 1936.
In 1944, during World War II, he edited the bimonthly Câmpia Libertății, a publication that protested against fascism and the Second Vienna Award.
Starting with Brume (1940) and through the retrospective selection Cupa de aur (1970) and Patria mea, plai al Mioriței (1977), he sought to evoke a medieval Transylvania dominated by mountain landscapes and the turbulent history of the moți.
He wrote two historical novels for young people: Romanul Caterinei Varga (1961) and Când era Horia împărat (1962).