[6] She was also the first woman to join a literary academy: the Academia de las Bellas Letras in Santiago, formed in the mid-19th century by the Chilean intellectual elite.

In this regard, during this time "she made clear her ardent intention and campaigned to expand the instruction and education of women, as well as a strong spirit of solidarity towards the most destitute of society.

[6] In 1872, José Victorino Lastarria named her an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Santiago, making her the first woman in the history of Chile to join an organization of this stature.

[6][12] Orrego's debut novel was Alberto el jugador, a text "of romantic court and custom where the atmosphere of the bourgeoisie is observed and the morals and social codes of the time are confronted.

"[13] In 1870 she published Teresa, a romantic novel with political overtones that was set in the early days of the Independence of Chile and "breaks the conventional parameters of the approach to the subject of women in 19th century Chilean literature.

[1] She also ventured into poetry, a literary genre that she approached through several contributions to the magazine La Semana, which she signed with the pseudonym "Una Madre" (A Mother).