Writer of plays about a person like Vermeer (7)
I believe the answer is:
painter
'person like vermeer' is the definition.
'writer of plays about a' is the wordplay.
'writer of plays' becomes 'pinter' (Harold Pinter).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'pinter' placed around 'a' is 'PAINTER'.
(Other definitions for painter that I've seen before include "What Rolf Harris was allowed to do" , "creative type" , "Matisse, maybe" , "Artist; decorator" , "One of two Johns" .)