Despite the current unsustainability of our individual carbon footprints, the standard method of personal renewal in affluent postmodern society continues to be tourism. Eyes glazed over by routine and sameness are opened to the pseudo-newness of "elsewhere." It's a strategy often used in the creative writing game. From that temporary, distant perspective, one can cast a long look back at one's homeland, and gain fresh insights.

In this 25-minute interview Alex Samur chats with George Fetherling about his latest novel Walt Whitman's Secret and the impact the American poet had on Canadians.

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George Fetherling, the "iconic Canadian poet, writer and editor" (Globe and Mail), has been called "a mercurial, liberal intelligence…the kind of which English Canada has too short a supply" (Montreal Gazette). His 50 books include fiction, memoir, travel narrative and cultural commentary. He lives in Vancouver and Toronto. His column on books appears on rabble.ca.