Wavell was a great lover of literature, and while Viceroy of India he compiled and annotated an anthology of great poetry, "Other Men's Flowers", which was published in 1944. He wrote the last poem in the anthology himself and described it as a "...little wayside dandelion of my own". He had a great memory for poetry and often quoted it at length. He is depicted in Evelyn Waugh's novel "Officers and Gentlemen", part of the Sword of Honour trilogy, reciting a translation of Callimachus' poetry in public. He was also a member of the Church of England and a deeply religious man.