Figure captivated by a writer's range (9)
I believe the answer is:
apennines
'range' is the definition.
(Apennines is an example)
'figure captivated by a writer's' is the wordplay.
'figure' becomes 'nine' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'captivated by' indicates putting letters inside.
'writer's' becomes 'pens'.
'a'+'pens'='apens'
'nine' going into 'apens' is 'APENNINES'.
(Other definitions for apennines that I've seen before include "European range" , "Italian mountains" , "Mountain range in central Italy" , "Great mountain range in Italy (9)" , "Italian mountain range" .)