Eliot initially turned up new handle or nom de plume (8)
I believe the answer is:
stendhal
'nom de plume' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'eliot initially turned up new handle' is the wordplay.
'eliot initially' becomes 'ts' (initials of poet TS Eliot).
'turned up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'new' is an anagram indicator.
'ts' in reverse letter order is 'st'.
'handle' is an anagram of 'endhal'.
'st'+'endhal'='STENDHAL'
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stendhal that I've seen before include "Writer" , "Le rouge et le Noir author" , "French author (The Charterhouse of Parma)" , "French novelist (The Charterhouse of Parma)" .)