Author kept spinning plate (4)
I believe the answer is:
dahl
'author' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'kept spinning plate' is the wordplay.
'kept' becomes 'had' (I've seen this before).
'spinning' says the letters should be written backwards.
'plate' becomes 'l' (from the L-plate that Learner drivers use).
'had' backwards is 'dah'.
'dah'+'l'='DAHL'
(Other definitions for dahl that I've seen before include "Model" , "British writer of many children's books, d. 1990" , "'Roald ..., children's author (4)'" , "Willy Wonka's creator" , "British author, notably of children's books, d.1990" .)