Go over the East with the German writer (6)
I believe the answer is:
goethe
'the german writer' is the definition.
(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
'go over the east' is the wordplay.
'over' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'the' put after 'e' is 'ethe'.
'go'+'ethe'='GOETHE'
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for goethe that I've seen before include "German poet, d. 1832" , "German writer, b 1749" , "The ego, strangely, of the German writer" , "German author (Faust)" , "German playwright and poet" .)