Hide article penned by humorous writer (7)
I believe the answer is:
leather
'hide' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'article penned by humorous writer' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'penned by' indicates putting letters inside.
'humorous writer' becomes 'lear'.
'the' inserted within 'lear' is 'LEATHER'.
(Other definitions for leather that I've seen before include "Polishing cloth" , "polish" , "Morocco, perhaps" , "Dressed hide" , "Dressed skin" .)