Frenchman OK penning verse (4)
I believe the answer is:
yves
'frenchman' is the definition.
(common french name)
'ok penning verse' is the wordplay.
'ok' becomes 'yes' (I've seen this before).
'penning' is an insertion indicator.
'verse' becomes 'v'.
'yes' enclosing 'v' is 'YVES'.
(Other definitions for yves that I've seen before include "-- Montand (French actor)" , "__ Saint Laurent, couturier, d. 2008" , "Frenchman maybe" , "Montand, Fr. actor" , "-- Saint-Laurent, French fashion designer" .)