(n.) A writer of an essay, or of essays.

advertising writer annalist art critic author authoress belletrist bibliographer coauthor collaborator columnist compiler composer copywriter creative writer critic dance critic descanter diarist discourser disquisitor drama critic dramatist encyclopedist expositor free lance free-lance writer ghost ghostwriter humorist inditer literary artist literary craftsman literary critic literary man litterateur logographer magazine writer man of letters monographer monographist music critic newspaperman novelettist novelist pamphleteer penwoman poet prose writer reviewer scenario writer scenarist scribe scriptwriter short-story writer storyteller technical writer tractation word painter wordsmith writer