She published her first poetry in Aušra becoming one of three known women to have contributed to the first Lithuanian-language periodical aimed at Lithuanians in the Russian Empire.
[2] She was also a pioneer of Lithuanian amateur theater – her comedy Netikėtai (Unexpectedly) was published in 1910 – and an early advocate of women's rights.
Malinauskaitė was the eldest of six children of a family of petty Lithuanian nobles of the Ślepowron coat of arms who owned about 300 hectares (740 acres) of land near Vaškai between the present-day Pakruojis and Pasvalys District Municipalities.
[1] There is no proof that Malinauskaitė ever received any formal education though she knew Polish, Russian, and Latin and there are hints that she attended a school in Biržai for a few months.
Upon graduation, Šliūpas established a successful private medical practice in Pennsylvania where many Lithuanian immigrants worked at the local coal mines.
[7] In the United States, she continued to publish her works in Unija (1884), Lietuviškasis balsas (1885–1888), Vienybė lietuvninkų (1890), Naujoji gadynė.
[6][8] Her poems painted expressive and colorful scenes of nature, praised and idealized Lithuanian history and language (cf.
[6][8] She also published some short prose works that expressed the difficult life of women and that showed a clear influence of socialism.
[6] She worked to support her husband but was also active as a public speaker, both on Lithuanian patriotic topics and on women's rights issues.