Hound satirical writer penning piece central to column (6)
I believe the answer is:
saluki
'hound' is the definition.
(Saluki is a breed of dog)
'satirical writer penning piece central to column' is the wordplay.
'satirical writer' becomes 'saki' (pen name of satirist Hector Hugh Munro).
'penning' indicates putting letters inside.
'piece central to' says to take the centre.
The middle of 'column' is 'lu'.
'saki' placed around 'lu' is 'SALUKI'.
(Other definitions for saluki that I've seen before include "Dog resembling a greyhound" , "Gazelle hound" , "Tall hunting dog (like a greyhound) from Egypt and south-western Asia" , "Tall breed of hound" , "Shown [AT CRUFTS]" .)