European writer grasps Latin (4)
I believe the answer is:
pole
'european' is the definition.
(someone from Poland)
'writer grasps latin' is the wordplay.
'writer' becomes 'poe' (Edgar Allan Poe).
'grasps' is an insertion indicator.
'latin' becomes 'l'.
'poe' placed around 'l' is 'POLE'.
(Other definitions for pole that I've seen before include "support" , "European; measure of length" , "National from east" , "Magnet end" , "Limit" .)