Theme: books and some poetry by male (5)
I believe the answer is:
motif
'theme' is the definition.
(motif is a kind of theme)
'books and some poetry by male' is the wordplay.
'books' becomes 'ot' (Old Testament).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'some poetry' becomes 'if' (Kipling poem).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'ot' put next to 'if' is 'otif'.
'otif' put after 'm' is 'MOTIF'.
(Other definitions for motif that I've seen before include "Concept" , "Recurring pattern" , "Theme, perhaps musical" , "Characteristic theme" , "Dominant theme in art" .)