Try repeating line from Russian author (5)
I believe the answer is:
gogol
'russian author' is the definition.
(author Nikolai Gogol)
'try repeating line' is the wordplay.
'try' becomes 'go' (both can mean an attempt).
'repeating' shows that letters should be duplicated.
'line' becomes 'l' (used when specifying particular lines from a poem).
'go' duplicated is 'gogo'.
'gogo'+'l'='GOGOL'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for gogol that I've seen before include "Dead Souls Russ. author" , "The Government Inspector author" , "Nikolai ---, Gov't Inspector author" , "Nikolai -, Russian author (Dead Souls)" , "Russian novelist" .)