Durcan's first novel,
Garcia’s Heart (
McClelland & Stewart 2008) is set in Montreal. Through an act of graffiti tagging its protagonist Patrick, an entrepreneur in the medical industry who grew up in Montreal, crosses paths with Hernan Garcia, who runs a corner store or
dépanneur. As the story unfolds, we find that Garcia was a doctor in Central America prior to arriving in Montreal. Garcia did work for a Central American government that has him on trial at the
International Court of Justice at
The Hague. Patrick attends Garcia's trial trying to sort out his feelings for his former mentor in light of the new evidence. His endeavour is further complicated when Garcia's daughter - Patrick's first girlfriend - appears. ''Garcia's Heart'' won the 2008
Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel.
The Measure of Darkness (Bellevue Literary Press 2016) is Durcan's second novel, and describes the life of an architect, Martin, who has suffered
neglect and a severe brain injury as a result of a car accident. Martin cannot remember events from the days leading up to his accident. Relations within Martin's family reflect neglect: he's twice divorced and estranged from his two daughters, though one is an architect at the firm he founded. Martin's brother, who he hasn't seen in decades, comes to help him during his
convalescence. While recovering, Martin recalls researching
Konstantin Melnikov, a Russian architect during the Soviet era, during his undergraduate days. Martin and his supervising professor visited Melnikov in Moscow. Thoughts of Melnikov help pull Martin through his recovery. Of the novel, Durcan said "there was a story that I needed to tell, perhaps just for myself." The short story collection
A Short Journey by Car (
Véhicule Press 2004) was chosen as one of
The Globe and Mail's Top 100 books of 2004. Durcan's short fiction has been published in
The Fiddlehead,
Zoetrope,
The Antigonish Review, and
Maisonneuve. == Awards ==