In 1757, Caterina made her debut as a writer under a pseudonym. Her most famous work was a collection of sonnets inspired by her father, which were published in 1767-68. She was a center of a circle of intellectuals and held a prestigious literary salon. Among her guests were Gaspare Gozzi. In several testimonies of her time, Caterina Dolfin was described as a beautiful, kind, cultivated and refined woman, admired for her brilliant conversation, her graceful poetry and prose. She was also an assistant of Gasparo Gozzi. In 1772, Dolfin was famously called before the Venetian Inquisition because of some of the contents of her library, which were reported to have ideas from the Enlightenment.
