English author starts to grant old stories some esteem (5)

I believe the answer is:

gosse

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'english author' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'starts to grant old stories some esteem' is the wordplay.
'starts to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letters of 'grant old stories some esteem' is 'GOSSE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gosse that I've seen before include "Father and son" , "Sir Edmund --, British poet and critic" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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