Writer's initially outrageous liberty grated with men (5,6)
I believe the answer is:
emily bronte
'writer's' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'initially outrageous liberty grated with men' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'grated with' indicates anagramming the letters.
The first letter of 'outrageous' is 'o'.
'o'+'liberty'='oliberty'
'oliberty' anagrammed with 'men' makes 'EMILY BRONTE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for emily bronte that I've seen before include "Wuthering Heights author" , "Novelist, one of three sisters" .)