Although Williamson's reputation as a writer was affected in the wake of his support for Oswald Mosley and many of his works are now little read, "Tarka" has continued to be an influential work. Rachel Carson once wrote that Williamson's work had "deeply influenced" her and said that "Tarka the Otter" and "Salar the Salmon" would be two of three books she might take to a desert island. Ted Hughes, who later became friends with an elderly Williamson, repeatedly cited reading the book as an important experience for him, while the author Roger Deakin wrote that he admired the "beauty and ice-clear accuracy" of Williamson's writing and described "Tarka" as a "great mythic poem".