theme in much of the new poetry was the use of the ghazal or love poem in praise of the poet's homeland. This was manifested either as a nationalism for the newly emerging nation states of the region or in a wider sense as an Arab nationalism emphasising the unity of all Arab people. The poems of praise (madih), and the lampoon (hija) also returned. Shawqi produced several works praising the reforming Turkish leader Kemal Atatürk, but when Atatürk abolished the caliphate, Shawqi was not slow in attacking him in verse. Political views in poetry were often more unwelcome in the 20th century than they had been in the 7th, and several poets faced censorship or, in the case of Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayyati, exile. After World War II, there was a largely unsuccessful movement by several poets to write poems in free verse (shi'r hurr). Most of these experiments were abandoned in favour of prose poetry, of which the first examples in modern Arabic literature are to be found in the writings of Francis Marrash, and of which one of two of the most influential proponents were Nazik al-Malaika and Iman Mersal. The development of modernist poetry also influenced poetry in Arabic. The closer the Arab poets approached to European poetry, the more anxious they became to look for new media, themes, techniques, metaphors and forms to liberate themselves from conventional poetry. Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab is considered to be the originator of free verse in Arabic poetry. More recently, poets such as Adunis have pushed the boundaries of stylistic experimentation even further. Poetry retains a very important status in the Arab world. Well-known Iraqi poets include al-Mutanabbi, Abdul Razzak Abdul Wahid, Lamia Abbas Amara, Nazik Al-Malaika, Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri, Badr Shaker al-Sayyab, Ahmed Matar, Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati, Wahid Khayoun, Mustafa Jamal al-Din and Muzaffar Al-Nawab. Mahmoud Darwish was regarded as the Palestinian national poet, and his funeral was attended by thousands of mourners. Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani addressed less political themes, but was regarded as a cultural icon, and his poems provide the lyrics for many popular songs. Other well-known Syrian poets include Badawi al-Jabal and Adunis. Reality television poetry competitions like Prince of Poets and Million's Poet exist to promote classical Arabic poetry and Nabati poetry respectively. Notable contestants in these competitions include Tamim al-Barghouti, Hissa Hilal, and Hisham al Gakh. See also List of Arabic language