The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 7 letter word CHARLES DICKENS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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More clues leading to the result CHARLES DICKENS
- Kind class cheer reprinted novelist
- Novelist Roald’s 23as narrated by Spooner
- Author of Birds touring Provence city close to vineyard
- Spooner’s poultry kept by Roald, a classic author
- Writer includes mad Lear’s daughter among cowards
- Author lacked richness? That’s entirely wrong!
- Right dodgy deals sealed in poultry pen
- English writer in French city died surrounded by birds
- Cowards holding French city finally released author
- Author reads novel about legendary leader among poltroons
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a classic author" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a classic author = charles dickens.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.