His first major work "Nestrančno vezdašnjega tabora izpisavanje" (1789, 1790 and 1791), an epic poem in three parts dealing with the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), which was based on information provided by the Imperial Court's newspaper in Vienna. The poem uses a simple style with elements borrowed from folk and Andrija Kačić Miošić poetry, with the main influence being Pavao Ritter Vitezović and German war poetry. The work was consequently described by August Šenoa as a "newspaper in verse", in which it depicts the Ottomans in ironic and satirical fashion. This was followed by a biblical-allegoric epyllion titled "Nebeski pastir pogubljenu ovcu išče" (1795), in which Malevac covered the Parable of the Lost Sheep, drawing from earlier sources. Another work depicting the birth of Christ, "Horvacka od Kristuševoga narođenja vitija" (1800, Zagreb), is difficult to categorize, but is described by some critics as Malevac's aesthetically best work, on grounds that it is written in a particularly humorous and original way.