Calvin Trillin’s ‘Offensive’ New Yorker Poem: A Response, in Verse

Image by Amy Sussman/Getty Images
The New Yorker’s April 4th issue included a poem by Calvin Trillin entitled The poem, which addressed the many varieties of Chinese food being popularized in America, struck many as having an uncomfortably Orientalist flavor (sorry). The Forward decided to respond, in verse.
Oh Trillin, our food-focused, sharply-phrased poet,
You’ve bungled, you’ve mis-hit, we’re sure that you know it
In this recent New Yorker, your verses rang tinny
When on Chinese cuisine you tried to give us the skinny.
See Trillin, we all like to laugh at food culture too
At cronuts, at raw foods, at fusion fondue,
Your intentions, we get it, were frivolous, glib,
In this poem’s exploration of the stains on your bib.
“Have They Run Out of Provinces Yet?” you inquired,
But your verse was, alas, far more white than required.
Your depiction of China made it seem like a place
The sole purpose of which is to intrigue New York plates.
Every province you named has a history, culture,
Too often laid claim to by our bright city’s vultures.
Perhaps the true subject you wished to lampoon
Rather than that far country, is those who jump to the tune
Of our culture, which displays a regrettable trend
For treating others like trophies, serving only our ends.
If so, that’s a respectable task you’ve adopted,
If only your purpose hadn’t been so co-opted
By the temptation to slip into that Orientalist cast.
Edward Said would have been completely aghast.
For now, let us say that you’ve missed the mark here
Next time make fun of something a little more near
To your own home. For example, food trucks are due
To be barraged by the wit that our food poet spews
Give it some thought. And to the New Yorker, please
Ask your authors for a little more taste on Chinese.
Talya Zax is the Forward’s culture intern. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture ‘Shtisel’ star Sasson Gabay is happy to be back playing a complex haredi Orthodox Jew in ‘Kugel’
-
Fast Forward Noa Argamani, ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt among over a dozen Jews on 2025 TIME 100 list
-
Fast Forward US claims Mohsen Mahdawi’s activism could ‘potentially undermine’ prospect of peace in Gaza
-
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.