A male essayist producing a novel (6)
I believe the answer is:
amelia
'a novel' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a male essayist' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'essayist' becomes 'elia' (pseudonym of Charles Lamb).
'a'+'m'+'elia'='AMELIA'
'producing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for amelia that I've seen before include "-- Earhart, US aviation pioneer" , "Fielding novel" , "famous pilot" , "Bloomer maybe" , "Fielding heroine" .)