One at centre of singing group often affected by criticism (8)
I believe the answer is:
campfire
'one at centre of singing group often' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'affected by criticism' is the wordplay.
'affected' becomes 'camp' (camp can mean exaggerated or affected).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'criticism' becomes 'fire' (fire is a kind of criticism).
'camp'+'fire'='CAMPFIRE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for campfire that I've seen before include "Boy scouts sing around it in the evening" , "Social centre for scouts etc" , "where singing is involved" , "Scout location" , "Focal point of tented activity, singsongs etc" .)