Talked over difficulty of old writer joining English party up north (6,2)
I believe the answer is:
opened up
'talked over difficulty' is the definition.
'opened up' can be an answer for 'talked' (opening up is a kind of talking). I'm not certain of the 'over difficulty' bit.
'old writer joining english party up north' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'writer' becomes 'pen' (I've seen this before).
'joining' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'party up north' becomes 'dup' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'o'+'pen'+'e'+'dup'='OPENED UP'
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for opened up that I've seen before include "made disclosure" , "started shooting" , "started talking" , "Poured heart out" , "Offered a freer view" .)