Writer died before stake (5)
I believe the answer is:
dante
'writer' is the definition.
(Dante is an example)
'died before stake' is the wordplay.
'died' becomes 'd'.
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'stake' becomes 'ante' (anteing is a kind of staking).
'd'+'ante'='DANTE'
(Other definitions for dante that I've seen before include "Italian poet, 1265-1321" , "Great Italian poet of 'The Divine Comedy'" , "Author of the Divine Comedy, d. 1321" , "La divina commedia poet" , "Thirteenth-fourteenth century Italian poet" .)