Gabriel (Yehoshua) Preil was born in Tartu, Livonia, Russian Empire in 1911,[1] but he was raised in Krakės, Kovno until his father died.

[1][2] Though primarily influenced by Yiddish poets of the Inzikh (Introspective) movement, Preil's influence extends to younger Israeli poets (Dan Pagis nicknamed him "The Duke of New York"[3]) and Israelis were his primary audience.

[1][5][6] Many of Preil's poems focus on New York city, Maine, and his grandfather, a rabbi, who lived in Lithuania and wrote for Ha-Melitz.

Another references Abraham Mapu; others, Jacob Glatstein and Mendele Mocher Sforim.

Yael Feldman wrote of Preil's Yiddish and American atmosphere, "One could say that Preil's life and art are a manifestation of two diametrically opposite movements: His physical biography led him further away from Israeli soil, but, through his artistic activity, he tenaciously bridged the distance and successfully approached the contemporary sources of his poetic medium.